The Request
by RavensWritings
Summary: Set just after the events of Day 1, a former CTU agent is called back to LA to unravel the mess left by the Drazens and Nina Meyers. New charaters and old, please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

_Author note: New story, just laying some groundwork, please bear with me. If you don't like it, I'll kill it here; if you do like it, let me know so I can keep at it._

_Disclaimer: an evil cat with a short temper and sharp claws protects anything not protected by the lawyers at Fox. Play nice, kittens._

5:57am EST

To say Elizabeth Genova was pissed off was something of an understatement after the week she had had. The weapons purchase had gone according to plan; all the money was transferred and tagged so Langley and Moscow could trace it. But as it turned out, Liz's primary asset had been exposed, and so the separatists had decided not to let anyone walk away from the meeting. Moscow had suspected something of the sort, but had kept their mouths shut, desperation to cut off supply of weapons to radicals in former satellite states overriding common sense in Liz' opinion. Four agents ended up dead, one of them a local Russian operative, and a three-month undercover operation had been ruined in a hail of gunfire because the Russians tried to hedge their bets.

And yet they had been more than happy to blame it all on the CIA bitch who had just barely escaped with three more of their agents and two of her own besides. According to her handler, it had taken several hours to convince the local authorities not to purse the fleeing agents. And it took a few more for her handler to convince Liz and her surviving teammates not to go after the separatists themselves. Langley said let it go, so the team hit the road.

It had taken her people a day and a half just to make it to the frozen safe house, and another two for Langley to arrange their extraction. After what had happened, the suits in charge thought a slow, subtle disappearing act was preferable to just hopping a train to Moscow and a plane home from there. So Liz had left last, and that had meant another two-day wait while what was left of her team trickled out of the country.

After two and a half more days of busses, trains and some pretty dodgy flights, she finally made the last connecting flight out of London back to Washington, D.C. and was almost home free. She'd only had time to briefly wash up and change her clothes in the airport restroom in London, and she could almost smell her shampoo from the terminal as she exited.

She absently pulled out her phone to check her messages as she scanned the pick-up lane for an empty cab. The first was Tyler Carter, her boyfriend, reminding her to call before she just came barging into the house at some ungodly hour. The second was Tyler again, just calling, "To say I love you, in case you forgot." Smiling, she found a cab, began the third message, and realized that at some point while she was in the air over the ocean, hell must have frozen over.

"There are reservations on the next flight to Los Angeles after you land, flight 2136. Be on it. I'll have an escort waiting for you at the terminal."

_Son of a bitch._ One voice mail, three sentences, and Ryan Chapelle officially became her least favorite person on the face of the earth.

Looking at her cell phone in disgust, she sank into the seat of her cab and considered just continuing on to her home in D.C. But while pulling the covers over her head, curling up next to her man, and sleeping until next week had its appeal, she had to admit; she was curious as to what had Ryan Chapelle calling her. After all, he had spent months trying to force her out of CTU last year, why would want her back? And what was the rush? She still hadn't completed her official debrief, and she knew there had to be someone at Langley who wanted to yell at her after the Russian failure.

She asked the cabbie to hold for a moment, and called her supervisor in Langley. Saul Able was as much a workaholic as she was, and despite the early hour she knew he would still be at the office. Probably waiting for her to confirm her arrival so he could get some sleep. Able answered the phone himself and quickly confirmed that; yes, Ryan Chapelle had made a specific application for her; and yes, she was cleared to go if she so chose to; but no, he couldn't give her any details on an unsecured cell phone, she would be briefed upon arrival. No help there. _Damn._

"Ma'am, ya going anywhere anytime soon?" the cabbie asked, getting impatient.

Liz rubbed her bloodshot blue eyes and sank further back in the seat, feeling the heat form the cab slowly seep into her bones, making her even more drowsy. She wanted a shower her bed and a hot meal, preferably in that order. But curiosity eventually overcame exhaustion. She exited the cab and headed back into the busy terminal, very glad that the only bag she had was the one on her shoulder and she wouldn't have to hassle with re-checking anything.

After breezing through security, Liz began fighting her way through the crowds as quickly as she could. The masses of people surprised her, as early as it was. And most of the people looked as tired as she felt. As she weaved and dodged her way back to the concourse, she pulled out her cell phone again and dialed a number from memory.

The familiar voice picked up, and Liz was disappointed that it was only a recorded one, "You've reached Jack Bauer, please leave a message."

"Jack, Liz. Listen; do you know why Chapelle's dragging me all the way across the country? I'd kinda like to know what kind of shitstorm I'm heading into. I'm about to get on a plane, so if I don't answer just leave me a message on my cell and let me know what you did this time. Thanks. Oh! And if you're home say "Hi," to Teri for me- I actually kinda miss her. See you soon."

Cursing at the crowds, Liz dialed another number. Her progress ground to a halt as a family held her up, stopped cold in the middle of the walkway, with a stroller, a couple of toddlers, and enough luggage for twice as many people. Tapping her foot and trying to find a path around the harried family, Liz listened to the phone ring on the other end. A path opened up, and the ringing stopped, "Jamey Farrell, I can't answer right now, but leave me a message."

"Hey, Jamey, it's Liz. Chapelle's ordered me to L.A. for some reason. Jack finally go 'round the bend or something? Give me a heads up if you can. Thanks."

Pausing at a departures listing for a few seconds, Liz nervously ran her fingers through her shoulder-length, brown hair, trying to pull it off her heated neck, and she checked her flight status. Luckily, it appeared to be one of the few flights running on time. Or running at all, she noted. There appeared to be a large number of cancellations and delays on the board, most going to the west coast. As she walked away she idly wondered what could have happened to foul up so many flights.

Unable to put it off any longer, Liz dialed one last number from memory as she continued walking to her gate. And she was relieved when the familiar voice answered as a recording, and not in person. Liz really didn't have the patience to deal with the woman at this time.

"Nina Meyers, please leave me a message."

"What the hell, Meyers? It's Liz Genova. I can't reach anyone right now and I'm about to get on a plane for L.A. on Ryan Chapelle's order. Could you have _someone_ call me and let me know what's going on? Even if it's that new guy, what's-his-name, Tony? Listen, I know _you'd_ enjoy it, but I really don't want to come all the way out there just to get the rug pulled out from under me. So call. Please."

Warning bells began to go off and for the first time since Chapelle's message, Liz allowed worry to creep into her anger and annoyance. She'd heard rumors of a big purge at CTU recently, and she didn't really know who was there anymore she could talk to. She considered just dialing the main switchboard, but she didn't have the patience to deal with being put on hold and transferred around until someone checked her clearances, or someone who knew her took the call.

She also didn't feel comfortable calling Tony Almeida directly, Jack didn't seem to like him very much, and she could only imagine what Nina might have told him about her. She didn't want to end up verbally sparring with someone she had never met. So she opted to wait, and hope someone she knew reached her. _Damn if I'll call Chapelle_, she thought, _I'm too tired, I'm too hungry, and I'm too annoyed. Last thing I need right now is his attitude._

_Still, I wonder…_

Her heart rate quickened as she upped her walking pace. The crush of the meandering and seemingly lost passengers was slowing her down, and only adding to her aggravation. Her mind spun, imagining scenarios that could have everyone tied down and unavailable. She imagined worse ones that could cause Chapelle to reach out to her. She tripped over someone's bag, and wondered if something had actually happened to one of her friends.

It was around 2am in L.A. so Jack and Jamey not answering wasn't all that surprising as they both had families. She knew that Jack was trying desperately to rebuild his marriage, trying not to work nights or weekends, and she also knew that if Jamey wasn't at home she would probably be out at a party or a club somewhere. But not Nina, and that worried her. Nina was a workaholic, a perfectionist, and besides, unless protocol had changed radically since Liz's departure, if Jack was off-call, Nina had to be on. Liz always had been.

Liz considered pausing for a moment to pick up a newspaper, see if there was anything in the news that would clue her in. The last time she was in one location long enough to catch any U.S. news was in London, but she hadn't bothered then. As Liz breezed past newsstands, she tried to catch glimpses of the headlines. Most of the photos seemed to be images of Senator David Palmer, which didn't really surprise her. The primaries were getting down to the wire and he was a charismatic and controversial candidate. But the headlines themselves were a blur. She considered just stopping for a paper, but according to the departures list, her flight should be boarding at any minute.

Liz arrived ten minutes later to find an empty gate, with only the attendants on duty and a couple of people in the seats around, likely overflow from adjoining gates, she assumed. Showing her ID to the attendant, she was surprised when the woman motioned to lanky, casually dressed, man in one of the seats. He quickly rose, pulling what appeared to be a badge from his pocket, and crossed to Liz, "Air Marshall Gabriel Watkins. You're lucky you made it, Agent Genova," the man told her, "We were holding the flight for you, but the Captain's getting antsy. Everyone else is on board."

"I could have gotten the next flight. I wouldn't have minded." Liz accessed the Marshall quickly; he was a bit taller than her, dark hair, dark eyes, but not so handsome as would make you look twice. Basically non-descript, perfect for an on-duty Air Marshall, but Liz was surprised he hadn't boarded. Just as his looks were supposed to blend in, so were his actions. He should have boarded with the rest of the passengers. And another warning bell sounded in her head.

The Marshall Watkins half-chuckled as he took her bag and led her onto the plane, "Flights to have been suspended for almost an entire day. I doubt you would have found another flight. Everything's been full up, including this flight. Someone must have pulled a few strings for you."

"Why?"

"You haven't heard?"

"Been out of the country, and then rushing from one flight to the other. Missed the five o'clock news. What happened?"

The Marshall let out a small sigh, and stopped just short of the plane's hatch, turning to face Liz. "There was a flight inbound to L.A., it exploded mid-air just after midnight, local time, yesterday. Everything's been grounded until about four, five hours ago. It's been a madhouse ever since."

A few things began to click for Liz. An explosion like that would have triggered an automatic call-in for all senior CTU agents and analysts, and if it were determined to be terrorist-related, Jack would likely have to have overseen the investigation himself. CTU had been understaffed when she was there; she couldn't imagine it had gotten much better unless someone had untied the budget's purse strings and let Jack hire some more people. It could explain why no one was answering their phones- they were too busy.

But it still felt wrong. Even if Jack or Jamey had just glanced at their cell call logs, they would have answered her even without checking the message first. Surely Chapelle had told someone she was coming out?

Marshall Watkins indicated an aisle seat, almost all the way to the back. Liz inwardly groaned; it looked like the people all around her were more or less awake, typing at laptops, chatting with their neighbors, or listening to personal radios. She desperately hoped no one wanted to chat with her. As she sat, the Marshall leaned over her to speak more privately, "Listen, I don't know what you spooks would have to do with this, but since you obviously haven't been near a T.V. or paper, I should probably tell you this, too: Senator Palmer was in L.A. and while he was there, there were two attacks on his life."

_Ah, that would do it, _Liz mused,_ CTU must be snowed under._ Liz looked up gratefully at Watkins, "Thank you, that actually explains a lot for me. I was trying to reach some friends and they all seem tied up at the moment."

Marshall Watkins straightened, and pushed her overnight bag into the overhead compartment. He finished and looked down at her with a smile, and motioned to the jam-packed cabin, "Try to enjoy your flight, anyway Ms. Genova."

Liz caught the Marshall's arm as he turned to leave, "You're not on this flight?"

"Nope. You're in _my_ seat. Like I said, someone pulled strings."

Liz's surprise registered only fleetingly before she pushed it away. Someone with enough clout bumped an Air Marshall off his flight after a possible flight-related terrorist attack, just for her. Whoever it was also must have knocked a few heads at Langley, as Liz imagined that this side trip was going to delay her Russia debrief. That took power, a lot of guts, and a burning need to see her. _Definitely not Chapelle, then_, Liz said to herself with a small smile. Whoever it was, he or she wanted Liz in L.A. And with that kind of power, she wasn't going to argue. Yet.

_I just hope that there's a hot shower and some food at the other end of this before I have to do anything strenuous. _

Liz settled into her seat, tried to tune out the people around her, and promptly began dozing off. She brushed away her earlier unease at not being able to reach any of her former friends. Between the plane and the assassinations, CTU was probably stretched very thin. Someone would leave a message, probably mid-flight while her phone was off. There would be one from Jamey or Jack on her phone when she got to L.A. She reminded herself to check first thing when she landed.

She rather doubted Nina would call. God knows they had taken pains to avoid each other as much as possible in the last few weeks before Liz had left, hopefully Nina intended to continue that as much as she could. But Liz couldn't bring herself to care; at this point all she wanted to do was sleep.

_Teri must have been absolutely thrilled about having Jack called away so late_, Liz mused to herself. She hoped it wasn't going to cause any problems, she was happy to see her friends finally back together.

It was her last thought as she drifted off.


	2. Open Session

_Session open._

**Pietro**: We have a problem.

**Yuri**: What?

**Pietro**: She never arrived.

**Yuri:** Last contact?

**Pietro**: She was cleaning up/heading out.

**Yuri**: Bauer?

**Pietro**: Can't confirm.

**Yuri**: Dead/Jail?

**Pietro**: Can't confirm.

**Yuri:** Find out now.

**Pietro**: How? Yelena was the only local.

**Yuri**: Call Alex.

**Pietro**: Alex?

**Yuri:** Now.

**Pietro**: What if she's in jail/talks?

**Yuri**: Alex will take care of it.

**Pietro**: Rescue?

**Pietro**: Yuri?

_Session closed._


	3. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: With all due respect, Fox's lawyers, my cat, trust me- you don't want to go there. _

7:34am PST

Liz stumbled off the airplane in L.A. still groggy from the uncomfortable nap she had taken on the flight. Her eyes were scratchy, and she had just realized as the plane taxied to the terminal that she had no idea where she was staying. As she tried to avoid tripping on the child ahead of her, she had to ruefully admit that so long as there was a horizontal surface, a blanket and some sort of quiet, she really didn't care. She just hoped that whomever Chapelle sent to pick her up didn't expect her to be bright and shiny. She was not a morning person under the best of circumstances and these were a far cry from that.

And she was also very concerned that there had been no messages on her phone when she had turned it on. No Jack, no Jamey, no Nina, not even an irritated "Are you here yet?" from Chapelle. Nothing. It didn't bode well for the rest of her trip.

Waiting for Liz in the terminal, was none other than George Mason. And he didn't look very happy about it. _Just perfect_, Liz thought, _and here I was afraid it would be Chapelle._

The total incongruity of George Mason standing in an airport, waiting for _her_ to come off a plane, threw her for a loop and she stopped, annoying a few of the departing passengers behind her. She moved to the side to let them pass and tried to center herself. Suddenly she felt like she had stumbled into a test she hadn't studied for. After the last of them had exited the area, Liz slowly made her way toward George.

A sarcastic grin spread across his face as he extended his hand to shake hers. "Hey, Liz, welcome back. We missed you around here. Well, some people did at any rate."

"George?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not really my escort, are you?" Liz asked wearily.

"Well, Chapelle's not too happy with me, so yeah. Looks I'm your escort. Lemme take that bag, at least I can pretend I'm a gentleman. You look like hell, by the way."

_Fine, if that's how you want to do this._ "Why thank you, George, that's wonderful. And you look like a fresh spring morning." Liz handed George her overnight bag, and shook her head. George always tried to keep his image impeccable, just in case someone more important than he was watching. But the suit he was wearing was rumpled, his tie was askew, there were circles under his eyes, and his five o'clock shadow was running into midnight. Liz didn't quite know what to make of it.

She began to follow George through the crowd, and tried to school her expression. But her exhaustion was causing her usual mask to slip. George noted her confusion as they walked through the crowds, "Jesus- you really haven't heard what happened yet, have you?"

"The plane explosion or the assassination attempts on Senator Palmer?

"No, the murd- Never mind, it can wait 'til we get in the car." George glanced around the crowds like he was looking for something, or someone. "Too many people around."

_Murder?_ Liz's stomach churned uneasily. George had almost let something slip and it wasn't like him. Usually when he knew something she didn't, he'd dangle it in front of her, taunting. Or if she had something he wanted, he'd offer her a deal. But George continued to monitor the crowds, and he shifted her bag from one shoulder to another. This nervousness was something she hadn't seen before and it began to feed into her own.

Trying to pull up even with him, Liz prodded him, "You looking for someone? Afraid we're being watched?" She tried to keep her tone light, hoping George wouldn't pick up on her increasing alarm.

"After yesterday, I really wouldn't' be surprised. We've had an… interesting day. Well, day and a half, at any rate. A few things happened and we're in a bit of a tight spot, hence your summoning. You're going to clean up a few things for us."

"OK, I'll bite. Why me? And why the rush? I'm supposed to wrapping up my last assignment. Filing reports, giving statements, filing more reports, you know- all that stuff you loved to heap on me when I was here."

"I can't- Listen, this isn't the right place, Liz. You're going to have to bear with us. Bauer asked Chapelle to call Langley, so now you're officially re-assigned to CTU for the time being. Your little wrap-up can wait."

Liz forced the levity, "What happened? Jack put a gun to his head or something?"

George paused, and for a moment Liz was frightened. Appearances were very important to George, and the state of his clothing and his obvious exhaustion were worrisome enough. But as he turned to Liz, there was a haunted look in his eyes she didn't like. There was also anguish in his expression. It was something else Liz had never really seen before and it disturbed her. Liz began to wonder if the man was approaching some sort of breakdown.

"George..?" Liz put a hand on his arm and stopped him. _Dear, God, what's happening here?_

"We'll talk on the way to CTU. Let's keep moving, Liz, people are waiting there for you. And the sooner I get you squared away, the sooner I get to go home and go to bed."

Liz and George resumed their journey. The crowd thinned out and she was able to walk alongside him, lengthening her strides to match his. "We're going right to CTU? I was hoping to have time for a shower and a change, if not a few hours sleep."

George snorted, "No rest for the wicked, Lizzie. Right to CTU for you," he looked her up and down quickly and gave her a sly grin, "although I'd suggest running by the locker room for that quick shower first."

Fixing George with a glare, Liz snorted, "Please, George, it's not like everyone there hasn't seen me look worse. And if Jack looks half as bad as you do, we'll all be a matched set."

George sighed and the anguished expression returned. "Yeah, about Jack, Liz. I should probably tell you that you won't be seeing him until tomorrow sometime at the earliest. He's… not exactly taking visitors at the moment."

"Why not?"

"He's at a safe house for the time being." He held up his hand to stop Liz before she could even start to speak, "And don't ask, I can't tell you until we're out of this crowd."

"George!" Liz could almost feel the ground slipping out from under her feet. She couldn't wrap her mind around what was happening. For the life of her she couldn't get the plane crash and the assassination attempts she had heard about and Jack's apparent withdrawal from CTU to add up. Liz searched for something, anything to say to George to get him to open up, give her some sort of clue. But George stayed silent as they continued winding their way through the crowds. Trying again, Liz prompted, "So Nina's in charge then?"

There was a heavy pause, "No, I'm pretty sure Nina's not in charge of anything at the moment."

Liz's anxiety got the better of her as they reached the airport doors. Liz pulled George around to face her, demanding his full attention. "What the fuck is going on here, George? A safe house? And why the hell is Nina not in charge if Jack's at some safe house? I thought that was her job."

George held Liz's gaze, but said nothing. Slowly, Liz dropped her hand from George's arm. "Please, George, just tell me something." She pleaded, almost in a whisper. But George remained silent and turned to exit the terminal, heading toward a dark SUV parked at the curb. There was nothing Liz could do but follow.

As they approached, two agents Liz didn't recognize exited the vehicle. She watched George hand off her bag to one of the waiting agents, who took it around the back. The other handed George a PDA and said a few words, leaning in so Liz couldn't hear. George frowned as he looked at the device and turned to Liz. "You ever heard of a guy called Vincent Schluter?"

Liz nodded, "He's an Eastern European arms dealer, German by birth, wanders around the former Soviet satellite states spreading sunshine, rifles and hand grenades. Why?"

"This him?" George handed her the PDA. On it was a surveillance photo of two men talking on a street somewhere. The one on the left was wiry, with short-cropped hair and a dangerous look to him, the one on the right-

"That's him, the older one on the right with the cigarette. Who's that he's talking to?"

"Guy's name is Ira Gaines, a mercenary." George reached out and took back the PDA.

"He involved in this?" Liz asked.

"Gaines was, but he's dead now, we're just running his back trails. Hop on in; we'll be taking the long way so we have a chance to catch up on old gossip."

Liz pulled herself into the SUV and sunk into the plush seat. George sat next to her, and the other agents sat in the driver's and front passenger seats. There were no introductions, the agent driving just started the car and pulled away from the curb. Liz closed her eyes and rubbed her temple, fighting the headache that was threatening behind her eyes. She wanted, needed, George to tell her what she was doing here, why she had been dragged all the way across the country. But she was afraid to begin; afraid of what George had to tell her.

Evidently, that fear was scrawled all over her face. "Liz, you OK?" _Will wonders never cease, he's actually serious_. She could hear the concern in the man's voice. It was something else that Liz had never seen.

Liz opened her eyes. Some of the anger she had felt earlier in the day began to percolate back through the exhaustion and worry. Liz shook her head, "No, George, I'm not. You're telling me that a friend of mine is in a safe house for a reason you won't disclose. The person who should be doing his job while he's out isn't. The guy who fired me a year ago, and enjoyed it, I might add, is bringing me in and bending a heckuva lot of rules to do so. You look like you've pulled an all-nighter, which I don't think you've done in the four years I've known you. I haven't had a decent night's sleep in over a week. I'm tired, I'm angry, and frankly you're starting to scare the shit out of me, which I didn't think was possible for you."

A tired grin touched the corners of George's mouth. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, just answer me one question before we jump into this."

"Shoot." George winced at the word and absently rubbed his thigh. "Metaphorically speaking, of course. Wouldn't want you to get any ideas."

Liz took a deep breath and asked softly, "If Jack is in a safe house, where are Teri and Kim?"

"I- there isn't an easy answer to that-"

"George, dammit, talk! Where are Teri and Kim?"

"Liz- You, I- Listen I can't just-" George was stammering at the borderline panic in Liz's voice.

"George-"

George reached out and took Liz's hand. The tenderness with which he held it did nothing to quell the panic rising in Liz's chest. He looked right into her eyes and started to speak in calm, measured tones, "Liz, Kim is OK. She's at the safe house with her father."

Closing her eyes, Liz asked the obvious question. She feared she already knew the answer, "And Teri? Where is she?"

"Teri Bauer was murdered at around 11:30 last night. I'm sorry; I know you were close to the family."

Liz didn't speak for almost five minutes, fighting the tears that started behind her eyes. A thousand images and memories flashed through her mind as she wrestled with what she had just heard. Liz could hear Teri's voice in her ears, how she would occasionally call just to check on things, often as worried about Liz as she was for her husband. And now, according to George, she was dead. Just like that. Liz couldn't believe it, didn't want to. _Jesus, I just talked to her, what, less that a month ago?_

Liz fixed her eyes on the scenery passing by the roadside and slowly dragged her wandering mind back to the car, to the present. She felt, rather than saw George shifting in his seat nervously. Liz wondered if her silence was the cause or if he was just getting anxious to tell her what happened. "Liz," he began.

"Do we know who killed her?" Liz interrupted.

There was a slight hesitation before he answered, "Yes, we know who killed her."

"Is he in custody?"

Another pause. "Yes, she has been moved to the federal lock-up downtown. We didn't want to leave her in CTU holding."

"She? Who is it, someone I know?" Liz turned to face her former colleague, "What aren't you telling me, George? What happened here last night?" Liz was fighting her anger again. She didn't have a lot of patience to begin with and after everything she'd been through lately; George's evasive answers were pushing her to a breaking point. She was sorely tempted to just grab the man by his lapels and shake the answers out of him.

Liz knew George could sense her hostility and as he rubbed a trembling hand over his eyes and over the top of his head over his thinning hair, and Liz was struck again at how strung out he looked. "Liz, I'll tell you who did it if you let me go back to the beginning and tell you the rest in order. It won't make any more sense that way, but at least you'll have the basic chronology, and you need that before we get to the briefing at CTU. We'll be there in less than twenty minutes and I'm positive you won't want to be unprepared considering who you'll be meeting with."

"And that would be…?"

"Senator David Palmer. He delayed his entire campaign just to talk to you this morning."

"How does he-" Liz caught George's warning glance and stopped herself. _First things first._ "All right, then." She paused for a breath, "Who killed Teri, George? Who killed Jack's wife?"

"Nina Meyers."

And with that, all of Liz's questions plummeted away, and she could only listen numbly as George proceeded to lay out the events of the twenty-four hour period which had irrevocably changed so many lives. Teenage rebellion leading to a nightmare, panicked parents looking for their only child. Hostages, assassination attempts, chases, escapes, rescues. And at the center of it all were two traitors, and a vengeful terrorist and his two sons. By the time the SUV arrived at CTU the outline was etched into Liz's memory, and she was steeling herself for what was to come.


	4. Fax

Fax to: 202-555-9582

Fax from: _number blocked_

Hey, stranger!

I need your help. I seem to have misplaced the last number I had for Yelena, can you track down her current whereabouts and let me know how to reach her? She borrowed something from me and I'd like it back ASAP. Also, do you know whatever happened to that guy she was seeing? I didn't think it was serious, but after the way she dropped off the map, I'm afraid they ran off together.

Speaking of running off, we're still meeting on Monday, right? No reason to delay?

Sorry about the fax, e-mail is down until further notice.

I have to make a meeting, so I'm off. Call me if you get a chance. Still have the number right?

Thanks!

Oh, since I know you're a fan, what was the deal with Palmer in L.A.? Were there really two attacks on him? Anyone know what that was about yet?


	5. Chapter 3

11:00am PST

_I just needed two more hours_, Tony Almeida said to himself. _Just a two more hours and I could have dealt with this again._ He was exhausted. He hadn't left until the second shift had completely taken over, until after the Bauers were settled and secure at the safe house, until after Nina had been transferred downtown for holding and processing. So it had nearly been six AM when he finally stumbled into his home, fell on his bed and… stared at the ceiling for almost two hours. Exhaustion be damned, his mind couldn't stop spinning. He supposed it was the opposite of going into shock. He was hyper-aware of every sound, the dim outlines of the dresser in his bedroom. It was like his mind was determined not to miss anything. Not like he missed the truth about her.

Nina.

_How could I be so foolish?_ The last time he had been in his bed, she had been with him. The murder, the traitor… the woman he might have been falling in… no, he wasn't going to think about that part. He could still smell the perfume she had been wearing at dinner on the pillows, and he could almost feel her arm draped over his chest, her head tucked into his neck...

Tony shook his head to clear it as he opened the door to the floor. He couldn't afford to be off his game now. Not with everyone looking to him, or at him, he supposed. The last thing he needed was to get lost in those memories. He told himself they were false. It had been a lie.

It wasn't helping much.

Tony crossed to his desk, dropped his jacket on his chair, and checked the clock. He'd gotten maybe two hours of good sleep. Four would have been better. But George Mason had made it clear he wanted Tony in by eleven, and, like it or not, it looked like George was going to be in charge. Back to business and time to clean up.

Tony looked over the floor, searching to see if George was still in, or if he had finally gone home, and his gaze fell on the conference room. The blinds were open and he could see George and Ryan Chapelle in the room, talking heatedly with a brunette woman Tony didn't recognize. Sitting off to the side, observing intently was… Senator David Palmer? _What's he doing back here? I thought he was on his way to Dallas again._ None of them looked like they'd gotten any sleep recently. And unless Tony was mistaken, it looked like the woman was wearing a set of the sweats that were kept in the locker rooms for agents who wanted a quick workout in the small gym. _Where are her clothes?_ He wondered idly.

As Tony watched, the woman started talking again, only to be cut off by Chapelle. She shook her head and stood, leaning over the table gesturing at the numerous files spread out in front of her, apparently trying to finish whatever she had been saying before. Tony could see the frustration written all over her face. Chapelle stood as well, and the two of them faced off over the conference table. Mason rolled his eyes, and put up a hand, trying to calm them down, but it looked like he was having no effect. All at once, the Senator stood, said a few words to Chapelle while motioning to the woman. When he was done, the woman sat back down, a small expression of surprise on her face, and Chapelle stalked out of the conference room. He went straight up to Jack's office and began placing a call. Tony had never seen him look so angry and defeated at the same time. Whatever was going on in that room, it appeared Chapelle was outnumbered.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tony saw Milo sitting at Jamey's old station, also taking in the floor show, it appeared. Turning, Tony walked over to the hacker, hoping he could shed some light on what was going on. The last thing Tony needed was more surprises. "Do you know what's going on in there?"

"Actually, no. And I'm not sure I want to. It's like going back in time, seeing those two go at it again."

"That woman and Chapelle?" Tony turned to look back into the room. It appeared the conversation was continuing in Chapelle's absence, Senator Palmer had resumed his seat and it looked like the woman was asking him about something in the files. She seemed upset, and confused, as well. Tony knew how she felt.

"You mean Lizzie? Oh, yeah, that's right; you weren't here for that, were you? You missed the three ring circus by about a month or so. Man, what mess. Nice to see Lizzie able to dish a bit back at Chapelle, though."

"Lizzie?" Something clicked in Tony's mind, "That isn't... Elizabeth Genova?"

"Yup, in the flesh. Henderson's other pet wunderkind. Other than Jack, I mean."

Tony began gathering his thoughts. He had only heard a little about Agent Elizabeth Genova, and most of that was rumor and innuendo. If he remembered correctly, she had held Nina's job before Nina did, working alongside Jack as his second-in-command. He knew she had fired only a year ago, due to some sort of misconduct and insubordination. According to some of the stories he had heard, she had been a stellar field agent otherwise. She was smart, quick-thinking, and tough- she didn't give in easy, and she didn't crack under pressure.

Nina hadn't liked her, though, and she had mentioned on more than one occasion that Agent Genova had been more of a loose cannon than Jack. Tony could only imagine what the combination of the two had been like. Nina had seemed happy to see her go, although she never really told Tony what had actually happened to get her fired in the first place. Now he wished he had asked.

Tony continued to watch the conference room. Agent Genova was doing most of the talking now, occasionally looking at Senator Palmer or George for confirmation on some point as she flipped through the various files. She seemed to be much more comfortable than she had been earlier. After a few minutes, Chapelle exited the upstairs office and re-entered the conference room. He said a few words to Senator Palmer, and then addressed Agent Genova. He saw her arch an eyebrow and lean back in her chair, nodding in agreement. Next to Tony, Milo shook his head. "Man to be a fly on that wall," the young man muttered.

After running her fingers through her hair, she said a few more words to the group. Whatever she said, it looked like it effectively ended the meeting, and everyone stood. Senator Palmer shook Agent Genova's hand, and held it for a moment, speaking earnestly. A sad smile crossed her face, and she nodded. With that, Senator Palmer motioned to Chapelle who opened the conference room door and began escorting the Senator out, flanked by the Secret Service agents that had been standing at the door. As they passed Tony, he could hear part of the Senator's continuing conversation.

"…and frankly, Mr. Chapelle, I don't care about your personal issues with Agent Genova. From what I hear there was no proof, and the proof you did have, well, I guess it's rather suspect now, isn't it? Jack Bauer asked for her. Langley approved the request, and after what I've heard in there, I personally endorse it as well. If I hear you're impeding her investigation, I will personally see to it…"

Tony quickly looked back to the conference room; shocked by the vehemence with witch the Senator had defended the former CTU agent. The files had been stacked neatly, and Agent Genova and George were sitting across from each other, still engrossed in conversation. Desperately wanting some answers, Tony began to walk across the floor.

Agent Genova looked up for a moment and saw Tony moving toward the conference room. Her eyes locked with his and she said something to George, who turned and looked as well. Tony paused, unsure if he should continue, but George waved him over.

Tony entered the conference room, and George drawled, "Tony, nice of you to join us."

"George."

"This is Agent Almeida, then?" Genova asked, looking at George.

"Yup, Antonio Almeida, Elizabeth Genova. Liz, Tony." George turned and headed out of the room, "I'm going upstairs to make that call you wanted and then I'm going home for a few hours. Liz, you OK for now?" She nodded. "Tony here can help you with anything you need." _I will?_ "Play nice you two, and try not to burn the place down."

Mason left the room went up the stairs to Jack's office, _his office now_, Tony reminded himself. He turned to face Liz and was somewhat angered to see she had turned back to one of the files and was ignoring him, flipping through the pages. Bad enough that someone who had been fired was just going through what looked like classified documents, but to blithely do it while he was standing there…

"Excuse me, Agent Genova-" he began. But he was cut off when she began to speak.

"Tony Almeida, 29, born in Chicago, Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, former Marine Corps, First Lieutenant."

_That's MY file?_ Tony clenched his jaw. _What the hell is going on here?_

Agent Genova continued, never looking up. "Masters was at Stanford, recruited right out of Transmeta. Good reports from your trainers and supervisors, a merit citation for Operation Proteus, not too shabby. I'd heard that was an… interesting operation. Kinda sorry I missed it. Tell me something, Agent Almeida, when did you start your relationship with Nina Meyers?"

Tony was floored. "Excuse me?"

Agent Genova sighed, "Your off-book, not-so-under-the-radar, sexual relationship with former Agent Nina Meyers, when did it begin?" Agent Genova finally looked up, fixing Tony's dark eyes with her icy blue ones. "It's a simple question, Agent Almeida, and I'd like you answer it, please."

"I don't answer to you."

"Actually, Almeida, you kinda do for the time being." George Mason's voice came from behind Tony. He had come up behind and was hovering in the doorway. "Sorry to interrupt. Liz?"

"Yeah, George? She answered.

"The techs you requested are being assembled; do you want Milo to start without them?"

"How much sleep has he gotten?"

"How the hell should I know that, Liz?"

Tony cleared his throat, "Milo got here at about five-thirty am or so yesterday, he left here about two or three am this morning, I'm assuming he was back here by nine or so, that's when I asked him to come back. He's had more sleep than anyone else who was involved with yesterday." He turned to glare at Agent Genova, "And for the record, Nina and I started our _relationship_ a little over a month ago. Needless to say, it's over now. Would you like any details?"

"No. Thanks, though, if I change my mind, I'm sure I can goad Nina into saying something later during _her_ interrogation."

Tony took a step toward the seated agent, "Interrogation? Where the hell do you get off-"

George came completely into the room, and put a hand on his arm. "Easy, Tony." He looked over at Agent Genova. "You're making friends awfully fast, Liz."

"Hey, I'm on your side, George, despite what Chapelle thinks. But those Department of Defense cronies will be here in a little over an hour, and I can't be the only person in the room without the relevant details. I've been asked to run an investigation that everyone else wants to bury and that's not going to be easy." She turned to face Tony again, "So I'm sorry, Agent Almeida, if my manner seems rude, but you were here, you know what happened, I don't. I've had," she glanced at the clock over Tony's head, "just over three hours to get caught up, and I'm still stuck on fact that the woman who sent me home-baked cookies on my last birthday was shot in the back less than fifty yards from where I'm sitting."

Tony stood there, shocked and unable to move. "I'm sorry, it's just-"

"I know, Agent Almeida, and I _am_ sorry. But if you would sit, please, and we'll start again? And this time I'll try not to growl at you so much. That work for you, George?"

"Frankly, Liz, I don't really care how you do this, but I'd still like to know what I'm doing with these techs."

Tony suppressed a grin as Liz rolled her eyes, "Fine, Milo can start with Jamey's and Tony's stations; I want the person division's sending out to handle Nina's and Jack's. If there are more of those taps Milo found on the main server I want them found, now."

"OK, that's all I needed, I'm leaving now." Both Tony and Agent Genova watched George walk across the floor and shout an order at Milo. After he exited the floor, they turned to each other. Tony slowly lowered himself into a chair opposite Agent Genova.

"Shall we start again, Agent Genova?" he offered cautiously. She didn't reply. "Agent Genova?"

The exhausted agent leaned in, "I'm not after you, Almeida, honestly. While I imagine that there will be those who will wonder if you were… complicit in Nina's actions, I want you to know I'm not one of them. She doesn't like having partners, she prefers to work alone. Regardless of what you felt for her, I doubt she would have accepted your help even if you offered it."

Tony took a deep breath, "I… well I guess I appreciate that, Agent Genova."

"But I'm saying that, so I can say this- you _are_ under suspicion. Technically, you should be suspended until you're officially cleared, but I need you now and I don't have time to ask nicely."

"I think I can understand that."

"Good."

"Can I ask you one question, before we start?" Tony asked.

"Sure, I suppose."

"What's with the sweats?"

For the first time, Tony saw a genuine smile cross Agent Genova's face. "Long story short? When you're running under Russian radar you don't carry a large wardrobe." Tony arched his eyebrow inquisitively and Agent Genova actually chuckled. "When we get through yours; I'll tell you mine, deal?"

Tony nodded, "I can live with that, Agent Genova."

"Good, let's get started." Agent Genova pulled another file off the stack and opened it in front of her. "And Agent Almeida?

"Yeah?"

"Call me Liz."

"Tony."

Liz chuckled, "Deal." She picked up a pen and got ready to take notes. "Start from when you were called in after the explosion and let's see how far we get in the next hour."

"What happens when the D.O.D. gets here?"

Liz paused for a moment, and Tony shuddered inwardly at the predatory smile that crept across Liz's face. There was a razor-sharp focus there that made Tony uncomfortable, and he began to wonder exactly what it was she had done to get fired.

"That, Tony," Liz began, "is when the hunt begins for real."


	6. Chapter 4

2:25 pm PST

Tony had given up trying to pretend he wasn't interested in what was going on in the conference room. He pretended to work at his desk, but was really focused on watching events unfold across the floor. The representatives, four of them, from the Department of Defense had arrived at noon on the dot, and with their arrival, Liz had dismissed Tony with a brief, but genuine thanks. Since then, she had been engaged in what appeared to be a very heated discussion. About what, Tony could only hazard a guess.

He'd heard that the D.O.D. wanted to bury Victor Drazen to cover their own asses. Tony didn't blame them. If the public found out that almost an entire strike team had been killed trying to assassinate a man that the D.O.D. rescued and hid away behind everyone's backs, the backlash would be incredible. And if they to also discovered that the man was rescued two years later by his family; and nearly killed a Presidential candidate along the way... Even Tony was upset, and not just because he had held a front-row seat for the whole fiasco. A cover-up was inevitable, but Tony knew it would interfere with the investigation that C.T.U. was launching. Liz was going to have to fight her way upstream to get any answers.

Elizabeth Genova. Tony still wasn't sure what he thought of her. He'd only spent less than an hour talking with her, trying to give her his perspective on the events of the last two days. She was smart, she had asked him all the right questions, and she seemed to be drawing all the right conclusions. But he still couldn't figure out why she was here. Why had this agent had been chosen to run the investigation? It smacked of a backroom deal, and Tony didn't like that. He'd been kept out of the loop for a lot of the time Jack Bauer had been rampaging around L.A., and he didn't want to be cut out anymore.

Tony's phone rang, and he picked it up, his attention still focused on the conference room. "Almeida."

"Agent Almeida, this is Michelle Dessler, I'm the one who's been working on Bauer's computer." Tony looked up at the upstairs office. He could see the young woman sitting at the desk staring intently at the computer screen in front of her. "There's something here I think you need to see, sir."

Tony took one last look at the conference room, Liz didn't look happy, whatever argument she was having, she was losing. Closing his eyes for a moment, he stood up, "Be right there." Tony hung up the phone and started to the stairs.

He entered the office and came to stand behind the curly-haired brunette. "What do you have?"

Tony saw Michelle take a quick breath and seemed to be steeling herself. _She's nervous about something_, Tony thought. _That can't be a good sign_.

"Well, sir-" she began.

"Don't call me, 'sir,' it's just Tony, OK?" Tony tried to keep his tone light. He'd noticed a lot of the second shift and the temps were treading lightly around him. He figured they were unsure how to act around the man who had been sleeping with a traitor just a little over a day ago. And Tony was also certain that the fact that Chapelle hadn't yet confirmed Tony's position at C.T.U. made everyone unsure as to whom they were reporting to. Still, he was getting very tired of having to step lightly.

"Sure, Tony, fine. Like I was about to say, you know about the taps we've found on the computer systems, right?" She turned around in the chair and looked up at him. "Well, there's one here on Bauer's computer."

"That's not surprising; Nina was skimming data off almost everyone's system." Something occurred to Tony, "Wait a minute, didn't you find this earlier today?"

Michelle nodded and turned back to the computer, "I did, and I was in the process of removing it when I noticed this-" she turned back to the computer screen.

Tony leaned over her, putting a hand on the back of her chair, and he noticed her stiffen a bit. _Damn, I think I'm scaring her._ Tony gave Michelle what he hoped was a reassuring smile, and asked, "What exactly am I looking at here?"

"We've been pulling the activity logs for each of the infected systems before clearing the taps. We're going through them line by line, trying to track when and what Agent Meyers was stealing from CTU." Tony nodded. "Look here."

Tony followed Michelle's finger, and blinked in surprise. "That can't be right."

Michelle nodded, "That's what I thought, but I've checked the log three times. It hasn't been altered, and I'm the only one who's been on this system since Mr. Mason left. The data's accurate, and look where it originated from."

Tony stood and gave a low whistle as he ran a hand through his hair and absently scratched the back of his head. "Damn. That's not good. Has anyone else seen this?"

"No, I called you first. I was under the impression that you were in charge with Mr. Mason gone, was that wrong?"

Tony cursed under his breath. _Chapelle really needs to make an official announcement about the new power structure soon, we can't work like this_. "No, for the time being, you're right." Tony shook his head, "Call Milo, tell him to go back through his logs and see if he can find any more incidents like this, he can start with my station. But don't talk to anyone but Milo about this. And see if you can't lock down a specific IP address for that originating computer."

Michelle went to pick up the phone and turned back to Tony, "Don't you need to use your station?"

Tony shook his head, "Not for a few minutes, I need to let Agent Genova know about this, it's going figure into the meeting she's in." Tony turned to the door and was about to exit when Michelle's voice stopped him.

"Um… Tony?"

"Yeah?" He turned. Michelle looked at him like she was struggling for the words to say what she wanted. "Listen," Tony began, trying to set the woman at ease, "God only knows what rumors are going around about me and Nina Meyers, so if there's something you want to say, just say it. I'm sure it won't be anything I won't hear again."

Michelle laughed softly, "Actually, I was going to say you might want to check a mirror before you walk into that meeting, your hair's kinda sticking out all over."

"My hair- ?" _I'm an idiot._ Tony quickly ran his hands over his head, smoothing his hair and hoping Michelle couldn't see him blushing. After a moment, he looked up, "Better?"

Michelle was still laughing as she nodded. Tony shook his head ruefully as he opened the office door, "Tony?"

"Am I missing a button, now, Agent Dessler?" He asked with a smile as he turned back again.

"No, I just wanted to say…"

"Go ahead." Tony prompted.

"None of this was your fault, and no one's saying it is. We all just..." She paused. "All we have to go by right now are rumors, and they're getting stranger by the minute. We all just wish someone would tell us what really happened here yesterday."

It was Tony's turn to laugh, "If you find someone to explain it to you, please have them explain it to me. I was here for the whole thing and I'm still in the dark."

Tony exited the office with the sound of Michelle's laughter in his ears. He knew that she was on the short list to replace Jamey and run C.T.U.'s internet protocols. And Tony found himself idly wondering if his recommendation would be a plus or a minus in the decision-making process. Michelle Dessler certainly seemed competent, she had become familiar with the protocols they were using very quickly, and aside from that moment when he had leaned over her, she had seemed at ease working with him. _Or at least at ease enough to tell me to comb my hair like a six-year-old. _

Tony strode purposefully over to the conference room, and he gave a short knock on the door and waited for Liz to wave him in before he entered. A couple heads turned his way, but the older gentleman sitting opposite Liz continued to speak, "…but it really doesn't serve anyone's interests to drag this out. Really, don't you think it would be better for Agent Bauer and his daughter if we spare them the pain of a long, drawn-out investigation?"

Tony watched Liz's eyes narrow, the blue in them turning to ice, and he had the fleeting impression that Liz was physically restraining herself from reaching across the table and harming the man. Instead, she spoke in a silent and measured tone, "Don't you think it would be better for Agent Bauer's and his daughter's peace of mind to find out exactly who Agent Meyers was really working for, and bringing that person, or those persons to justice?"

Tony cleared his throat, attempting to get Liz's attention, but the man in the pinstripe suit continued, "Really, Agent Genova, all we have is Meyers' word that she was working for someone else. And seeing as Bauer had a gun to her head at the time, I'd imagine it was a tactic to save her life."

Tony cleared his throat again, and Liz looked up. "Is something wrong, Tony?"

"Yes, actually, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Can it wait?"

"I'm sorry, Liz, it can't."

The pinstripe suit waved Liz off like he was shooing a fly, "Go ahead, Agent Genova. We're almost done here anyway; see to Agent Almeida there, we'll wait."

Liz smiled thinly and stood, crossing over to where Tony held the door open for her. She stepped through the doorway and as she passed close to Tony he realized she was shaking in fury. He couldn't believe Chapelle and Mason had left her to deal with these men alone. He closed the door behind her and put a hand on her arm. "Going rough in there, I assume?"

"Fucking bastards." Liz spat as she turned away from the conference room so the men inside couldn't see the fury on her face. "They could care less that we have agents and innocent civilians dead, they just care about saving their own asses and making Victor Drazen disappear again. They're circling the wagons and I'm stuck on the outside."

"They're not doing an investigation at all?" Tony asked incredulously.

"Of course, they'll do an investigation. They'll talk to a few people, make a few phone calls and in a few months they'll say Nina was working alone, Nightfall was a rogue operation gone wrong, and if there were any security leaks, they must have come from Nina, Jamey or Robert Ellis. There won't be any mention of Drazen, or the secret detention facility, and Teri Bauer will become just another footnote in a report that they'll bury anyway."

"What are you going to do?"

For the first time since he met Liz that morning, Tony saw uncertainty in her eyes. "I don't know, Tony, I really don't. If D.O.D. shuts me down today, I'm screwed. I was brought here to run the investigation. Nina, Drazen, Gaines, all of it. Find the answers; dig up whatever I need to in order to make sure this isn't going to happen again." Liz shook her head and cast her eyes to the floor, "Senator Palmer personally endorsed me as his choice and he came here this morning specifically to ask me not to let these guys bury the truth, to fight them. I can't afford to fail the man who might be our next President."

"He's not President yet." Tony said.

Liz let out a small sigh, "No, he's not, and for all his clout, it's just not enough of a reason to force a full investigation on our end. I'd just go around them, but my gut says this goes higher than anyone thinks; I can't afford to have this door slammed in my face. But without stone cold proof that Nina had accomplices outside the Drazens, I don't think I can keep them from shutting me down." Liz drew a haggard breath. She looked up at Tony, and gave him the ghost of a smile, "But enough about me, what about you? You needed help with something?"

"Actually," Tony began, "I think I can help you. Agent Dessler's discovered something I think you should know about." Tony quickly outlined what Michelle had shown him, and was pleased when Liz's expression turned from one of defeat to one of triumph.

"That's horrible news Tony, but it's perfect for me." The predatory smile from earlier came across Liz's face. "Come on in with me, I think it's time to end the meeting."


	7. Chapter 5

Tony followed Liz back into the conference room, curious to see how she would use this new information. She took back the seat she was in before, and motioned for Tony to sit next to her. None of the D.O.D. representatives bothered to stand for Liz, nor did they bother to introduce themselves to Tony.

As soon as Tony was settled, the man in the pinstripes smiled at Liz, "Everything taken care of, Agent Genova?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, then let's keep going then, I'd like to wrap this up bu the end of the day so we can all get back to our normal business." The man took a file from one of his companions and was about to speak when Liz cut him off.

"Actually, I'm tired. Let's end this now."

The man's eyebrows shot up and he exchanged glances with his companions. "And how do you propose to do that, Agent Genova?" He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

Tony wondered why Liz's smile didn't worry the man, and then it dawned on him- the man didn't care. And with that, Tony saw why Liz had been left alone to deal with this and he cursed himself for not seeing it sooner. Liz Genova had little to no real authority at C.T.U.; technically, Tony supposed she was still considered a C.I.A. agent. And considering she had actually been fired from C.T.U. last year, what authority that gave her was lessened to the point of non-existence. If she couldn't make any headway with the D.O.D. representatives, or if she flew off the handle, Chapelle could just pass her off as a rogue agent, a wild card who used her personal ties to the case to get involved and then let her personal feelings get in the way. There was nothing in her record to contradict it. Then Ryan could swoop in and smooth everything over and make everyone happy. And if Liz did happen to get somewhere, then Ryan and everyone at Division could rest easier in the knowledge that they made the right choice. And take all the credit, as well, Tony supposed.

Liz was about to be sacrificed or saved, and no one at Division would care one way or the other. Without any suits here to back her up, she's like a small fish in a roomful of sharks. And based on the look on Pinstripe's face, Tony figured he had been smelling blood for awhile. The sheer audacity of it sickened him, and Tony absently wondered if Liz knew she had been set-up.

_Arrogant bastards._ Tony thought, looking at the men across from them. _They're not taking her seriously and here she is, about to blindside them._

Liz sat up straight and addressed Pinstripe directly. "If you can answer, oh, let's say four questions to my satisfaction, then I'll consider the matter closed. I'll submit my reports, you can submit yours, and we'll all go on our merry way."

"And if for some reason I can't?" the man challenged.

"Then you'll have more things to worry about than my little investigation then, won't you?"

One of Pinstripe's companions leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Pinstripe nodded and replied, "All right, ask your questions, we'll see what turns up."

Liz nodded. "First question, how did Victor Drazen's sons find out he was alive in the first place?"

"It's entirely possible that Drazen's extraction was witnessed by one of his men, or someone from a nearby town. In all the confusion surrounding the execution of Operation Nightfall, we can't be one hundred percent certain that we had full containment."

"OK," Liz continued, "I can live with that. Second question: How did they find out about Senator Palmer and Agent Bauer's involvement in the operation?"

"It shames me to say this, but that leak likely came from Robert Ellis. As the man who planned Operation Nightfall he was the only one who knew all the players. But over the last two years his behavior was increasingly erratic and marked by alcohol and possible drug use. It's impossible to tell what he may have leaked whilst he was under the influence."

Liz cocked her head to the side slightly as she considered, "May I ask a related question and not have it count to my total?"

Pinstripe chuckled, "I think that's fair, Agent Genova."

"How did they know to go after Ellis?"

"Simple. If the Drazens were looking for US intelligence officers who worked the region, they'd run across his name eventually. Bob's run ops in that part of the world for almost ten years, and many of them were on-the-record. His name would be on the reports. Reports that Nina Meyers could access."

Nodding Liz continued, "Which brings me to my third question, how does a C.T.U. agent, with only level four clearance, find out the transfer schedule of a prison that doesn't keep records and doesn't even officially exist?"

This question made Pinstripe's companions squirm, but he held firm. "Nina had considerable computer skills. In fact, haven't you found several instances of her having hacked into various secured networks here?" Liz nodded. "Then, is it entirely out of the realm of possibility that she hacked into flight records, maybe even food or supply deliveries, the men at these remote locations have to eat, don't they?" Liz nodded again and Pinstripe leaned in, "I think it's been very well established in the last day or so, by a number of people, that where there's a will there's a way. And Agent Meyers was a very driven woman, capable of taking any and every," he gave a pointed look at Tony, "opportunity that she came across." Tony kept his face steady, refusing to give the man the satisfaction of a reaction.

Liz gave Pinstripe a small smile and a nod to concede the point. "Just so we're on the same page, let me sum up. Then I'll ask my last question and we can all go home." Liz leaned forward and held Pinstripe's gaze with her own. After a moment, Pinstripe nodded and looked away. And for the first time since Liz had returned to the room, he began to look a little unsettled, and Tony could feel some of the power in the room subtly shift to Liz. _I think I might actually enjoy this_, Tony mused.

"You claim that Drazen's sons could have found out he was alive from someone who witnessed his abduction out from under the Nightfall team. Then, while searching for US intelligence officers who may have had a hand in it, they come across Bob Ellis' name in a report, possibly swiped by their spy, Nina Meyers. They track down Ellis, a career intelligence officer who has kept more secrets than I care to guess at, whom, in either in a drunken or drugged stupor, just happens to let slip that a US Agent by the name of Jack Bauer and US Senator David Palmer were involved." Liz paused and turned, "Guess they were lucky Nina was already in L.A., weren't they, Tony? Wouldn't it have been awful if they had needed to transfer their pet intelligence officer here to watch Jack? They'd have to come up with a reason, grease the right wheels…"

Tony smiled and picked up the thread, "Wow, that's a lot of C.T.U. brass to sleep with. I guess Nina got lucky on that one."

Pinstripe squirmed in his seat, "Can we get to your question? I'm sure we all have better things to do."

"Of course, I'm sorry. So Nina just happens to stumble, steal, or sleep her way into finding out that Victor's going to be transferred to L.A. Another happy coincidence. And now the stage is set for our little tragedy. Everything goes to hell, and all the players who leaked intel, stole intel, or used it, are dead or in jail, problem solved, no more worry."

"Exactly." Pinstripe stated. "Now, what's your last question?"

"If everyone responsible for yesterday's events is dead, and Nina was working alone, then who used one of her computer taps to download a number of confidential files at 10:35 this morning?" Liz smiled again, "In case you didn't notice, that would be more than ten and a half hours _after_ the Drazens were killed and Nina was captured."

The men on the other side of the table looked at each other nervously. "Are you certain?" one of Pinstripe's companions asked.

Liz looked at Tony and nodded for him to take the question. "Agent Michelle Dessler is in the office right now with the data in front of her, you can go look for yourself if you don't believe us."

The D.O.D. representatives were visibly shaken, and they whispered back and forth before Pinstripe spoke again. "It could be possible that Nina passed access information to Drazen's men. One or more of them may have escaped in the chaos and are attempting to cut their losses and get everything they can before fleeing the country."

_Oh, for crying out loud!_ "It's a nice thought," Tony began as he rolled his eyes, "Except for one thing."

"And what is that?"

"Agent Dessler was able to trace the origin of the connection, apparently whoever did it was in a rush and wasn't able to cover their tracks completely."

"Then we should be able to find Drazen's man quickly."

It was Tony's turn to lean in and fix Pinstripe with his eyes, "I guess so, after all, one doesn't just wander into a secured section of The Pentagon without leaving some trace."

Tony had the grim satisfaction of watching the blood drain out of Pinstripe's face.

Liz sat very still and dropped her voice to a near whisper, "What if Nina wasn't lying, gentlemen, what if she really did work for someone else, another mole, perhaps? A mole inside The Pentagon, who could have had clearance to see the Nightfall files containing Bauer's and Palmer's names, and the records of Drazen's capture. And, here's an even happier thought, instead of Victor's transfer to California being a wild coincidence, what if it was planned that way, what if this person has access to your little collection of captured terrorists?"

Liz stood and Tony followed suit. "I'm going to go notify my superiors that we've had another security breach, I suggest you do the same. And after that, perhaps you'll stop wrenching the facts to fit your pretty little theories that neatly cover your asses and _open your goddamned eyes_. I am not doing this again, so the next time we meet, either stay out of my way or be prepared lock me up for the rest of my life, because I'm telling you now, I will not rest until I find out who the hell set this up and if I have to go through you, so be it."

Pinstripe and his companions stood as Liz began to exit the room.

"Agent Genova…" Pinstripe cleared his throat, "Agent Genova, surely you understand the ramifications…"

Liz spun to face the man and he took an involuntary step back. "Understand what?" She sneered. "I understand that public knowledge of moles in US intelligence offices would not be a good thing. And I sure as hell don't intend to go around and advertise the fact that we have secret little prisons full of supposedly dead terrorists." She shook her head in disbelief, "Do I look that stupid to you? I'm not proposing going on national television with a picture and saying, 'have you seen this man?' I understand that there are secrets to be kept here, but there _is_ a difference between protecting the truth and hiding it. For once, can we just forget about the damn politics and consider the fact that an innocent woman was murdered _just down that corridor_ and that maybe, just maybe, the woman who pulled the trigger didn't act alone?"

Liz left the conference room and headed up to the office where Michelle was still working. Tony began to follow when Pinstripe spoke, "She's certainly not what I'd expected when I came in here."

Tony shook his head and turned to the suit, "Well, I certainly didn't expect Nina Meyers to be a traitor; maybe we should all readjust our thinking." And with that Tony left and went to join Liz and Michelle in the office.


	8. Open Session 2

_Session open._

**Alex**: She's incarcerated. Solitary confinement.

**Pietro**: Visitors?

**Alex**: No. Iso. and sleep dep. For 3 days.

**Pietro**: Who ordered?

**Alex**: Genova, Elizabeth- Fmr CTU LA. Co-worker. Heading investigation.

**Pietro: **Who?

**Alex**: Don't know. Details sketchy. Current CIA most likely. Mid-level.

**Pietro**: Find out.

**Alex**: Can't- door's closed. Almost caught.

**Pietro**: New door?

**Alex**: I'll work on it.

**Pietro**: Bauer?

**Alex**: Safe house- no address yet.

**Pietro**: Palmer?

**Alex**: Out of reach. For now.

**Pietro**: Blood Roses?

**Alex**: All withered.

**Pietro**: All?

**Alex**: All. Deed's done- moving on?

**Pietro**: I'll check with Yuri. Stay on this.

**Alex**: Possible exposure.

**Pietro**: Deal with it.

**Alex**: I don't work for you.

**Yuri**: You work for me. I'll be in touch.

**Alex**: Fine. I'll contact in 2 days.

**Yuri**: Good.

_Session Closed._


	9. Chapter 6

_A/N Thanks for the reviews, we'll be getting to some action in the next couple of chapters, it's just taking me longer to set things up than I thought it would. Keep the reviews coming! _

5:32 pm PST

Liz rubbed her eyes in a vain attempt to bring the words on her screen into focus. It wasn't working. Her stomach growled and she pushed back from the desk in disgust. She vaguely remembered grabbing a sandwich from the break room after her meeting with the D.O.D. suits, but she couldn't remember when she had eaten before then.

"The airplane, they served something on the plane."

Liz startled herself. She hadn't realized she had spoken out loud until the echo of the words in the office startled her. She looked around wearily and her eyes lingered on the two boxes she had placed by the door. She hadn't been able to bear working at Jack's desk with all of his things surrounding her. The pictures, his mug, personal planner, all of it stood silently, accusing her. Telling her she could have done more, she should have fought back harder. If she had stayed, none of this would have happened. So she had grabbed a box and placed the desk items inside to shut the voices out.

But she hadn't stopped there. Before she knew it, she had packed up everything she knew belonged to Jack. His spare set of clothes, mirror, and shaving kit from the locker; a blanket she recognized from the small sofa in the corner, and a few more personal items from the desk drawers. When she was finished she realized that was it. By accident or design, she had packed Jack's entire life at C.T.U. into two file boxes. And she had closed them tight.

_I wonder if he'll thank me._

"Who's going to thank you?"

Liz let out a gasp and sprang to her feet, her hand automatically reaching behind her back to where her holster usually rested.

Tony quickly put his hands up, a file folder held in one of them. "Jesus! I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

"It's OK." _Christ, if I had been armed…_ "I'm sorry; I guess I was almost asleep." Liz settled back in the chair and pulled herself back up to the desk. "I just got off a real miserable field assignment and I'm a bit… never mind. What can I do for you?" Liz motioned to the chair in front of her, hoping no one had seen her little show through the glass walls.

_Last thing I need are more stories floating around this place._

Tony sat in the chair hesitantly, raising an eyebrow at her nervousness. He handed Liz the folder in her hand, "D.O.D. just sent that over. It's their analysis of the workstation that was used for the break-in here this morning."

Liz furrowed her brow, "You mean we're just getting it now?"

Tony nodded and Liz opened the folder. She read the brief summary page and her heart sank. She hadn't really expected much. Someone who was good enough to get into The Pentagon would hardly be foolish enough to leave a trail, but Liz had still hoped for a break. Instead, there were barely two full paragraphs of text and a list of people at the back. Liz looked up at Tony in resignation, "Almost three hours and all we get is this."

Liz propped her elbows up on the desk and put her head in her hands, her fingertips gently rubbing her temples. After three hours, the best the D.O.D. could do was issue a statement in which they confirmed that other than the break-in itself, there seemed to be no indication that the computer in question had been used for any other illegal purposes; nor was there any evidence of anyone other than its authorized user logging on in the last twenty-four hours. Which, Liz had to admit, was a neat feat as the authorized user was apparently in Italy on a vacation with his family.

Tony nodded again and added, "I don't think they're holding back, not after this morning, I really think this is all they have." There was a pause, "Liz, are you feeling OK?" He asked softly.

Her head still in her hands, Liz grumbled, "You know, Milo asked me that earlier, and I still don't have a real answer." Liz looked up and was startled at the concern in Tony's eyes. She hadn't pegged him as the kind of guy who went around the office checking on everyone's emotional temperature. She wondered what had triggered the response, but then she realized that if she looked half as bad as she felt, Tony was probably wondering if she was going to collapse right in front of him.

She gave him a weak smile and said, "I just haven't slept much in the last two weeks, and before you walked in, I was trying to remember the last meal I ate. It was rather difficult."

"I know the feeling." Tony paused for a moment as if to say something else and let it go, gesturing at the report instead, "What are you going to do about that?"

Shaking her head, she replied, "Nothing for now. D.O.D. may not be happy about it, but it looks like they're at least leaving the door open. Says here they're going to look into this list of the other people in that office, system admins, other users on the group, as well as anything or anyone who might have picked up the guy's password. So long as they're still working, I'm not going to complain too much." Liz leaned back, "In fact I might not complain at all, even if it does look like they're cutting me out."

"Why not? I thought the whole point of that meeting earlier was to browbeat them into helping you out."

"It was, in part. Mostly it was a staring contest, they wanted to see how tough I was, see if they could intimidate me."

Tony let out a small laugh and cocked her head to the side, "With your reputation, I don't see you being very intimidated by a bunch of suits. I think I heard Agent Baker mention something about a bar brawl downtown your first week in L.A…?" For the first time all day, Liz felt genuine amusement as she groaned and joined in Tony's laughter.

"Well, I think they got the message in any case, and now that they know I'm not going anywhere, I think I'll foist them off on Chapelle. He might even thank me, always did want me to be more of a team player."

"Somehow I doubt that's what he had in mind."

"Somehow I doubt this is what any of us had in mind when we got up… yesterday?" Tony shook his head, "Or the day before, last week, whenever…" Liz let the laughter die into silence.

She was glad to note that it wasn't an awkward silence, though. Liz had been afraid, after their rocky meeting that morning, that Tony might keep his distance, or actively try to avoid her. She was pleased to note that he wasn't withdrawn, or trying to hide anything, which would have been a very bad thing for all concerned. But she could still feel hesitaion; like there was something more he wanted to say. Liz was also fairly certain she knew what it was about, but she needed him to come to her about it. She didn't want to push him too far.

Tony caught her eye and held it a moment before he spoke. "We didn't finish this morning. My interview, I mean."

"No, we didn't." Liz admitted, and she leaned back in the chair.

He took a deep breath, "You need me to talk about Nina. The way I see it, I'm about the only one left here who can."

Liz said nothing, and kept her expression even, trying to hide her nerves. She had tried to leave Tony alone as much as she could during the day, to give him his space so he could process what had happened. They had both worked on other tasks, but Liz had looked down from the office on more than one occasion to see him staring at Nina's former desk. His expression had been hard to read, and Liz knew he had a lot to think about. She hoped he had come to some conclusions, she prayed he had come to the right ones.

Tony eventually realized that Liz wasn't going to comment, and so he took another deep breath and continued, "I was third in command here, and no one worked closer to Nina than I did."

Liz took a chance, "Except Jack."

She almost regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth, as they caused a haunting expression to cross the man's face. Tony looked down at the floor for a moment, but when he raised his head, there was another look to his eyes and in the set of his jaw. It was anger. "Except Jack." He echoed. "And that's the point, isn't it?

'Nina was smart, and very good at her job. Her real job, I mean. She was friendly without having any real friends. She was trustworthy without really trusting any one else in return. We all knew her, but none of us really got to know her. But I think Jack may have gotten to her a little, I'd like to think that maybe I did, too, but I'm not sure that's something I want to think about right now. But I do know she sure as hell got to us."

Tony shook his head, continuing, "Jack's not going to be any help. Forget the thought of even trying to ask him for help after we all let him down, I'm just not sure he'd be up to it. You didn't see him when he found-"

"Actually I did." Tony looked at Liz sharply and she continued. "See Jack, I mean. I saw what happened when he found Teri. I know in the end it was you who had to convince him to let her body go."

"But how-?"

"The same way Jack saw Nina kill Jamey Farrell. The back-up security feed."

The realization dawned on Tony slowly. Nina had thought she had disabled the security system when she killed Jamey, but there was a back-up recording she didn't know about. Jack did, though, and when he caught Nina in her web of lies, he had used the back-up feed to convince everyone else she was a traitor. Nina also thought she had disabled the security system in the server room she hid in before trying to escape. She had been wrong then, too. And much to Liz's dismay, the video had told her everything she needed to know, and nothing she wanted to remember. Liz idly wondered how many other people had made the connection between Jamey's tape and Teri's murder.

She hoped Jack wasn't one of them.

"Liz," Tony appeared to be searching for the words he needed for the question he wanted to ask, "The tape- did it show…"

"Yeah." Liz bailed him out, allowing her own grief and anger to tint her tone, "Teri walked in on Nina while she was on the phone with someone, a contact or a partner presumably. They talked a bit, Nina pulled a gun, tied her up, and Nina shot her as she walked out the door."

"And when Jack got back he went looking and..."

"Pretty much."

Liz watched Tony stand and cross to the glass wall, looking out onto the floor. He appeared to be wrestling with something and it made Liz nervous, "Does it really matter to you?" She asked sharply.

"Excuse me?" Tony spun to face Liz and she could read the shock and agitation on his face.

Hoping she wasn't pushing Tony in the wrong direction, Liz stood, leaning over the desk and placing her hands flat on its surface. "I asked you if it really mattered to you. The video? Does knowing for sure what happened change how you feel about Nina? About what she did?"

"No, but-"

"Would it change your opinion if you knew that she hesitated before killing Teri, that she had to think it over before she pulled the trigger?"

There was a double take as Tony stammered, "She did?"

"I'm not saying she did or didn't, Tony." Liz crossed over to Tony from behind the desk and stood right in front of him, forcing him to look down to look her in the eyes. "I'm asking you, would you change your opinion if she did hesitate? If she showed that brief moment that would tell you that maybe she isn't the absolute monster everyone's saying she is. That maybe the woman you've been sharing your life with is still in there. If you went to the prison tonight and she showed remorse for what she's done, would it change the job you're doing now? Would you stand by her?"

"God, no! Liz, what the hell?"

Tony took a few steps back and turned away from Liz, sitting on the small couch and putting his head in his hands. Liz followed and sat next to him. "Tony, I'm not asking you to shut off your feelings; I know you need to sort them out. I can't even begin to imagine what this is doing to you. But I need you and I can't have you re-examining yourself every time you learn something new about what she's done. 'Cause I'm pretty sure we're just looking at the tip of the iceberg."

Liz took Tony's hand and he looked up in surprise. Taking another chance, Liz continued on, allowing her nerves and her fear to show. "I have no idea what's going on. I know Nina had help. I know there's someone at The Pentagon, and there are probably more. But what I don't have are references, places to start looking.

'You were right earlier, Tony, you are the only person I can talk to about Nina. You're also the only person I can talk to about Jack. About Palmer. About the Drazens, and Gaines and Jamey, and Kim and all of it. You're it for me.

'There were three people running the show here yesterday. One's in mourning, one's in jail, and the other one's sitting right here. Sure, I'm going to talk to Jack, and I'm going to talk to Nina, but I can't be sure what, if anything I'll get from them. You're my only through line. You're the only one with any authority who was involved from beginning to end. And you're the only one who's still here.

'You _are_ still here, aren't you Tony?" Liz held her breath as she held Tony's eyes with her own. She tried to mentally will him back. To help him push aside what had happened and see how badly she needed him.

Over the course of the day, it had become increasingly obvious to Liz that Tony would have to be the one to tie everything together for her. Jack's notes on the day were, spotty, to say the least since he had been in and out of CTU so much. Liz also knew that while he would help her as much as he could, his focus would be elsewhere.

Nina's notes, while concise and more-or-less complete, were useless. Liz didn't want to take her word for _anything_ that had happened. And forget the prison interviews; unless Nina got a deal, Liz knew she was going to keep silent.

Liz had spent most of the afternoon pouring over the notes from Alberta Green, George Mason, and Ryan Chapelle, but as they were all covering their asses to one degree or another, Liz knew she had to dismiss them.

And for all of Senator Palmer's support, he really didn't know much more than Liz did.

Tony, on the other hand, had nothing to lose. He had to know his job was already in jeopardy, Liz had told him herself that he would be a target of the investigation. He wasn't emotionally attached to any of the major players. Except Nina. And if he could just push past that…

After a few minutes had passed, Tony began speaking, "I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know if I can help. I don't know if I can just put this all behind me. But I'm here." He looked Liz in the eyes, "Until someone tells me to leave, I'm here."

Nodding, Liz smiled in relief and squeezed his hand before releasing it and walking over to the locker. Opening it, she started to grab her jacket and the carry-on bag she had brought with her that morning.

"Why don't we call it a day, Tony?" Liz called over her shoulder. "Night shift must be on its way, everyone has everyone's cell numbers in case of emergency, and I'm starving. Care to join me?"

"Sure, why not? Where you going?" He asked as he stood.

"Well, I don't have a car, so I suppose wherever _you_ can drive me before dropping me off at a hotel."

The ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of Tony's mouth, "We have a motor pool, you know. We can get you a car."

Turning back to the desk, Liz countered, "I'd rather spend the time with you. We do still need to talk. About a lot, and even if we don't get to everything tonight, at the very least I need to make a plan for the next couple of days. I have to tell Chapelle what kind of resources I'm going to need in the AM, and I want to run a few things past you before I make any requests."

"Sounds fair." Tony stood up, "I'll go get my keys, meet you downstairs?"

Liz nodded in agreement. Tony opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped.

"Tony?"

He hesitated briefly, giving Liz the impression that he was going to drop what ever it was he wanted to say, but then he spoke, "You told the truth, didn't you? Last year when you were fired. It was Nina who lied, wasn't it?"

Nodding sadly, Liz answered, "Yes."

Tony turned and opened the door. As he began to exit, Liz stopped him. "Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"I knew she was a liar, but I would never have expected anything like this. I was as surprised as everyone else. She was a pro, no doubt. She got us all."

Tony turned and left. Liz watched him start down the stairs as she picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Chapelle."

"Ryan, it's Liz."

"Well?"

Liz looked out of the office and down at Tony as he was shutting down his system and getting ready to leave. "He's clean. I have no objections."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Alright, I'll call Mason now and set it up. Official announcement will be in the morning, but as of right now, Tony Almeida is the new head of tactical floor operations and second-in-command." Liz could almost hear Chapelle shaking his head. "I hope you know what you're doing, Genova."

"He can do it, Ryan. And if he can't, fire him when I'm gone, but for now he stays here."

"Your call- your head if you're wrong."

_More like my funeral_, Liz added silently as she hung up the phone. She shut down her computer, picked up her bag, and headed out the door.


	10. Chapter 7

2:35 PST

After six months in Siberia, Liz had forgotten how much she had missed the Californian sun. She sat alone in a lounge chair on the back porch and looked out on to the neatly manicured lawn, her eyes occasionally drifting to the agent standing sentry duty at the north end. The neighborhood was quiet, and except for the occasional distant crackle of a guard's radio; she could almost forget that this was a safe house. That just two days before the people staying here had been running for their lives.

_Such pleasant surroundings to house such horrible memories._

Upon her arrival that morning, she had been relieved to discover that every man assigned to the Bauer detail was someone Jack had a history with. Someone he had either trained, or had worked with for years. She figured it would be good to remind him that he still had friends he could trust, even if she wasn't sure he still considered her one of them. Still, he had allowed Liz to talk with Kim in private, retreating to the porch, while they stayed in the living room.

It hadn't gone very well, but it could have been worse. Liz had known Kim since she was ten years old, but the young woman who sat on the couch with her that morning might as well have been a stranger. And an anger-filled one at that. It was slow going, and Kim was still in shock from what had happened. It had taken Liz several hours to get Kim to open up and it wasn't until she had put away the video camera and stopped taking notes that Kim seemed willing to even confirm what Liz already knew, let alone add anything. But when she finally began to talk it was like a floodgate opened, and Kim poured out everything she had been holding inside for the last few days.

Liz rapidly discovered that C.T.U. had only the vaguest idea what had happened to Kim and her mother from the time she left her family's home until she and her mother were rescued by Jack. There were a few disjointed statements that had been gathered from Rick, the boy that had helped kidnap her. There were the partial transcripts of Nina's interviews at the safe house. And finally, Liz had the doctor's notes from the clinic, an impersonal physical examination of Teri's rape as well as the later coroner's report confirming her pregnancy. But to hear those words come out of Kim, to hold the shaking girl as she begged Liz not to tell her father about the rape or the baby… it was almost more than Liz could bear.

In the end, she had been glad of the phone call from Mason, checking in and effectively ending the interview. Kim retreated to her bedroom for a nap, and Liz joined Jack on the porch for a late lunch. For the time being they had kept the conversation light, neither one quite ready to wade into the deep waters.

Despite the sun, Liz felt herself shiver and she dreaded what was coming. For the first time since she arrived, Liz had doubts about her ability to run this investigation. _Can I really lie to Jack about what happened to his family? Do I have any right to tell him if I can't?_

The sliding door behind her opened and Jack returned to the porch, two mugs in his hand.

"You look like you could use this."

Liz took one of the mugs and breathed in the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, along with a little something extra. She took a sip and arched an eyebrow, "Funny, I don't remember seeing whiskey on the list of safe house kitchen staples. New protocol, I take it?"

The ghost of a smile touched Jack's face, never reaching his exhausted eyes, "Baker snuck it in. But you didn't hear it from me."

"Who am I going to tell, Chapelle?" Liz rolled her eyes, "Like the man would believe me if I did."

"Good point."

The silence began to stretch, and Liz took the opportunity to watch her old friend stare out into the yard just as she had been moments before. The smile as he handed her the coffee had been a forced lie. She couldn't begin to imagine what was going through his mind, the pain, the guilt, the anger. They both knew the real conversation would have to start soon, and Liz could feel Jack steeling himself for it.

Liz had seen it happen before. She had seen him slowly gather his thoughts, his emotions, and anything that would distract him from the task at hand and lock it down. He put a mask in place on his face, and as Liz watched she realized it was the same one she had seen him use while undercover, or while interrogating suspects. It was a mask that spoke volumes. Liz didn't like what it was saying and she didn't like that it was directed at her.

_Don't lie to me. Don't play with me. Because I have no reason to trust you, and every reason to fuck you up if you piss me off._

Liz finally realized that she really was the outsider now, not quite the enemy, but not quite a friend anymore. Her role as the investigator was pushing him away. And it scared her. They had been friends and partners from the day Liz had joined C.T.U., just a few months after Jack had, and they had never let each other down. Not until the end. Not until the silence that had ended her job. Liz needed Jack to trust her now; and she needed to be able to trust what he was telling her. She needed to get past that damned mask.

She took another sip of the laced coffee to try and push the thought away. She really wasn't sure if she was ready for this, and she knew Jack would be savvy enough to use it to his advantage. She hated this, Jack was her friend, and she felt as if she was locked in battle of wits, trying to make a plan of attack.

Liz was snapped back by the sound of Jack's voice asking her a question. "I'm sorry?" she asked.

His tone was deliberately casual, and Liz got the feeling he was biding his time. "I asked you where you got your clothes. You mentioned you had to do the D.O.D. meeting in C.T.U. sweats, have a washer and dryer at the hotel?"

"Not quite. My boyfriend has keys to my place back home," Liz explained, keeping her tone light, "so after he stopped yelling at me for not coming home like I had planned, he agreed to pack up a few things for me. They were overnighted to C.T.U. and Benson brought them to the hotel this morning when he came to pick me up."

"Boyfriend's the cop right? D.C. Narcotics?"

"Yeah, Tyler." Liz let the silence stretch out again. Against her better judgment, she decided to let Jack lead the conversation. The mood he was in, she couldn't afford to push him too far and have him go defensive and shut down. Whatever happened, happened and Liz tried to be patient.

A few minutes passed, and Liz could almost hear an audible click when Jack decided to go ahead. After a deep breath, the mask finally settled into place and he began, "How was Kim this morning, she get through it OK?"

Liz thought carefully before she answered, knowing Jack would weigh every word. "As well as could be expected, I suppose. She was able to tell me quite a bit, actually. I think its good I haven't been here for the last year. I'm not a complete stranger, so she trusts me; but I'm not really close to her, so she doesn't feel like she needs to protect me from anything."

Something flashed behind Jack's eyes and belatedly Liz realized she had touched on the very subject she had wanted to avoid.

"Can I ask you," he was hesitant, trying to choose his words as carefully as Liz had. He kept his eyes focused outward, unblinking, "did she say anything…"

"…useful to the investigation?" Liz deflected. _He knows something and he's fishing, damn_. "Yes, I think some of what she knows will be very useful."

Jack's continued as if Liz had said nothing, "Did she say anything about Teri, anything she might not want me to know?" Jack turned in the chair to face Liz. "I know she's been hiding something, did she tell you what?"

_Shit. _Liz's heart jumped into her throat and she fought to maintain an even expression. Of all the conversations she didn't want to have right now…

_I'll be damned if I get pulled into this._

Liz replied coolly and diplomatically, "Jack, I think that if Kim is hiding something; that is a conversation you need to have with her. I'm not sure I should answer that."

"So then there is something?"

"Jack-"

"She trusts you; I could see you both through the door. I know she's trying to protect me from something and I know you know what it is. Tell me." It was not a request, and Liz knew from the tone in his voice that she was on thin ice.

"Jack," she took a deep breath, and turned to face him, "I'm going to know a lot of things during this investigation that I can't tell you. And there will be things I _won't_ tell you. Case in point, I'm going to spend almost all day tomorrow in a room with the woman who killed your wife, and that _right there_ is all you are ever going to know about it." Jack flinched, and his eyes narrowed, but Liz continued, "This is a federal investigation, and as much as I'd like to tell you everything, I just can't. And even if I can, I won't. I'm sorry, but it's not going to work that way."

Jack fixed Liz with his icy eyes, and she could feel the rage behind them. "Really?" He said softly, dangerously, holding her gaze and willing her to back down.

But Liz didn't blink, and she didn't look away, "Yes. If I have too, I will walk out that door right now. I will send in some flunky with a tape recorder to get your statement and then I will put a wall around this investigation that you will not be able to talk through, walk around or break down."

"Because that's your job."

"No, because I won't see you worry at this until it eats you alive. We've both seen men burn themselves out chasing ghosts, or drown in their own guilt, and I don't want to see that happen to you. If that means I have to shut you out I will."

After another moment, Jack finally looked away and Liz reached out for his hand. He didn't stop her, but he didn't return her brief squeeze. However, when he finally looked back up at Liz much of the anger was gone, "You can't just ask me to let it go…"

"I know, and I'm not saying I'm going to completely cut you out; but I need you to trust me to know the difference between what you need to know and what you shouldn't know."

There was a pause before Jack started, "You still didn't answer my question about Kim."

"I know." Liz said simply. Jack nodded, accepting Liz's silence for the time being.

They sat that way, facing each other, with Liz's hand still on his, a silent promise of support. Minutes passed, and the mask finally slipped.

Liz began to feel his hands shake and as she watched the tremors begin to move through his entire body. She tightened her grip and finally felt Jack respond in kind. He whispered something Liz couldn't catch and she moved to sit next to him, putting her free arm around his shoulder, "Jack, I'm sorry, I-"

"She was pregnant. Teri. When she died… before she died she called me and we… what do I do with that? What if Kim doesn't know, what if she does and I don't..?" He trailed off, the tears beginning to roughen his voice. His loss and frustration was finally evident in every word.

Liz had to fight back tears of her own as she answered, "Jack, you don't have to tell her anything." He looked up at Liz, the pain showing in his eyes as he realized what she was about to say. "You were right, she knows. She was afraid to say anything in case you didn't."

"Then that is what… what she was hiding? That she knew Teri was pregnant, and that's all?"

Liz preyed Jack was too upset to see the lie as she nodded silently. As he looked down at the ground again, she made a mental note to bury the clinic's report with the rape exam, and to have a long threatening talk with anyone who had seen it. If Kim brought it up at a later time, that would be between father and daughter, but Liz would be damned if she would expose Jack to any more of this pain. He had more than enough on his plate as it was.

She held Jack for a few more minutes until the shaking stopped. When he had himself back under control, Liz returned to her seat across from him, and picked up her mug. She took a swig and made a face at the now cold brew. Jack laughed softly at her expression of disgust.

"Pot's still on if you want a fresh cup."

"Nah," Liz defiantly took another swig, "I'd hate to waste the alcohol in here."

"I'll be right back." Jack disappeared into the house and re-appeared a few minutes later, with the pot, a hot plate, _and_ the bottle of whiskey. Liz couldn't help but laugh herself as Jack set them on the ground between the two chairs. While he looked for an outlet on the porch, he said, "I think we'll both need these before we're done."

Finally finding an outlet, he set the pot of coffee to warm, and sat back in the chair, facing Liz again. "I guess we should start, then. You're going to have a busy day tomorrow." Liz nodded, glad that it appeared to be all Jack was going to say on the subject of her forthcoming meeting. "Where do you want to start?"

Tucking her feet under her and leaning so she could still face Jack, Liz simply answered, "Wherever you need to start."

This time, the mask stayed down.

_Next chapter- Liz gets taken for a ride, can CTU find her before she reaches her final destination?_


	11. Chapter 8

_**12:26am PST**_

_I've been up way too late._

Liz stared at her watch as she waited for the hotel elevator. She was emotionally wrung out after talking to the grieving Bauers, and she had stayed at the safe house much later than she had planned. She hadn't realized how isolated and guilty Jack felt until she finally got him talking, and once he started, she hadn't wanted to stop him. Hour after hour passed, filled with words spoken in anger and pain until they weren't talking about the Drazens or Nina anymore, they were just… talking. Liz couldn't remember the last time she'd had a conversation with someone without wondering if what she was saying could compromise her mission, or scare off the person she was talking too. Jack understood, in a way few could. Hazards of the job, sacrifices made, friends lost.

And as the conversation progressed, Liz realized something that had eluded her. This was why Jack had his affair with Nina during his separation. This connection, the lack of walls that field agents built to protect the ones they loved. That was a thing so rare that to find it, even for a moment, was to hold onto it, to blind yourself to any danger. In Nina, Jack had found someone who understood him in a way Teri never would. And Nina had used that information to destroy him.

Liz shuddered, wondering what she would have done in Nina's place. Because it was a valid question when she thought about it. _What has Nina done that I haven't, or wouldn't?_ Undercover for years, never really knowing exactly what the next assignment would be, it had to be nerve-wracking. Liz had done long-term assignments before, but nothing like this. Liz had to admit that over the last few days, she had had become somewhat awed by the whole production and the dedication Nina had shown.

_God, I've gotta get some rest._

The elevator doors opened, and a single passenger emerged, passing her without a second glance. Liz entered, and after hitting the button to her floor, she sagged against the back wall, her thoughts drifting to what she had to tomorrow. _No today_, she corrected herself silently, _now it's today. Today I have to deal with Nina_.

Liz was mentally running a checklist of what she needed to do before meeting with Nina when her phone rang.

"Genova."

"It's, Ryan Chapelle, did I wake you?"

"No, I was just getting back from the safe house, what do you need?"

"I think I've found something. Something we should check out before you meet with Meyers."

The drowsiness that had come over Liz dissipated, as she stood up straight. Curiously, she asked, "Did Milo or Michelle come up with something on that laptop she was using?"

"I have no idea what they have or haven't found, not my area. But I was looking at Nina's financials and I think I found something."

_Curiouser and curiouser, since when does Ryan Chapelle do grunt data sifting?_

"Genova, you still there?"

"Yeah, what do you have?"

"A house."

Liz paused, "A house? What house?"

"Nina's I think. About the same time she moved to L.A. it looks like she set up a business bank account I think can link to that alias we found in Drazen's laptop. It was used to purchase and maintain a small house just outside the city limits."

"Where did the money come from? Nina's not stupid enough to use her own."

"Not sure yet, but mostly it looks like it's from a numbered account overseas, there are regular deposits coming from it to cover the checks for the mortgage and utilities. Occasionally other deposits, could be business expenses."

"Clients deposit the money in the numbered account, and from there it goes where it's needed?"

"Looks like."

The elevator door opened. Liz hesitated, she was desperate for leads, but she needed to get some sleep. She couldn't afford to look tired when she met with Nina.

Ryan continued, "I'm sending the address to Mason and Almeida, they're putting together a team to go over there, but I thought you might want to join them."

Liz held the door open with her hand and began to step out, prepared to tell Ryan to just have Mason update her first thing, and then she stopped. She couldn't do it. She needed to see that space, that house, where just maybe the _real_ Nina lived.

_I need to get in her head._

"Are you asleep, Genova? Do you want the address or not?" Chapelle's tone was weary and clipped.

Liz let the door slowly close in front of her. "Give it to me."

She hit the button for the parking garage and waited for the elevator to start.

_**1:13am PST**_

"Is it on the next block, Michelle?" Liz asked as she made her last turn.

"Should be," Michelle Dessler replied, "It should be the on the left-hand corner, just before the next intersection."

"I see it." Liz slowed the car slightly as she drove past turning the corner. "Everything looks empty, I'm gonna park and head on in, how far behind is the team?"

"Tony said they'd be there in about fifteen, twenty minutes, he had to wait for the forensics unit. They were still at Nina's apartment."

Liz slowly parked around the corner from the house and looked around the neighborhood. It seemed very quiet; the homes were nice, but not too expensive. Not quite upper-middle class, Liz estimated. "OK, tell Tony I'm heading in, but I don't see anything that strikes me funny, looks like everyone's in for the night. As you should be, Michelle, how long has this shift been for you?"

Liz listened to Michelle's laughter and paltry excuses while she scanned the street. There were few vehicles parked in driveways, but all the houses had garages so that wasn't too surprising. "I'm sorry?" Liz asked as she realized Michelle had asked her a question.

"I said, do you think you'll find anything?"

Liz stepped out of the car and began to walk to the house, still scanning the neighborhood.

"Hard to say. After, what, three days, we've come up almost empty with her home, her work station, her safe deposit box, her gym locker… But if she thought this was a real 'safe house' we could get lucky. Some paper records, maybe a safe or an additional lap top or a cell phone. Heck, I'll take a stray fingerprint at this point." Liz reached the front door and looked around it, "We're sure there's not a secondary security system?"

"As sure as we can be from here. We ran the name on the business through the local security companies and only got the one hit. They've disabled the alarms remotely, you should be fine."

Liz pulled on a pair of gloves and pulled out her lock picks, "I'm gonna hold you to that, Dessler. If I wake up the entire neighborhood, I'm blaming you."

"Fine, just… Liz?"

"Yeah."

"Be careful."

Liz smiled, "I will, just tell Almeida to hurry it up will ya? Empty houses give me the willies."

Liz heard Michelle laughing again as she ended the call. Replacing the phone in her pocket, Liz quickly popped the main lock and started on the deadbolt. Both were standard commercial locks, it didn't appear that Nina had done much upgrading. Probably smart, Liz mused, nothing set off radars like having the heaviest secured house on the block. Neighborhoods like this, she figured people have locks, they have standard commercial alarm systems, and if they want to get fancy, they have a dog. And Nina never struck Liz as the fancy type.

The lock gave way, and Liz slowly entered the house, gun drawn. Keeping her movements soft and light, she began to sweep the house. It was single-story, three bedrooms, and two and a half baths. Liz quickly moved through the living room and kitchen areas. She paused for a moment, listening, before moving down the main hallway to the bedrooms. One of the bedrooms was set up as an office, a few filing cabinets (empty), a desk (also empty), no computer, but there were a few stray chords that indicated there may have been one at one time. The master bedroom had a full size bed (no covers), no chest of drawers, and no clothes in the closet. The third bedroom was completely empty. The whole set-up screamed clean-up job, the house was immaculate. Liz glumly realized she wasn't the first person through the place.

But she was obviously the only one there now. Holstering her gun, Liz began a more thorough examination of the office space. She was feeling around the center desk drawer for a false bottom when she heard the front door open.

Liz froze, checking her watch. Only ten minutes had passed, it was too soon to be Tony. Cursing, she pulled her gun and moved to the door, pulling it almost completely closed. She could just make out the shapes of two men, bulky, wearing jackets, one was carrying a gun, but neither struck Liz as being overly professional. They were making too much noise.

Her phone rang. Liz jumped and silenced her phone, shutting the door. She knew she had seconds, minutes maybe if they got the wrong room first. She knew there were the two men she saw inside, but she needed to know if there were more. Looking out the window into the front yard, Liz saw a van parked out front, the driver staring away and down the street. Cursing, she pulled the switchblade she kept in her pocket and opened the window. Slicing through the screen, she jumped out and crouched under the window, getting her bearings. Moving quickly, she turned to the side of the house and headed toward the back yard as she heard the men inside shout. They'd discovered the window.

Liz heard the van door open as the driver rushed to the house to join the rest. Realizing she couldn't break for her car without being seen, Liz turned to the backyard. Just as she was about to head for the dark hedge line at the yard's border, the world exploded into light.

Someone inside had hit the floodlights, illuminating and eliminating the path she was about to take. Ducking behind a trash can at the side of the house, Liz strained to hear what was going on. She heard an almost inaudible whisper as the patio door slid open and she heard three, no four, distinct voices come onto the back porch. They were all American-accented, at least one of them southern.

"Where is he?" _Number One_.

"Came out the window, he can't have gone far." _Number Two_.

"I checked the back shed before we went in, it's padlocked, he couldn't be in there." _Number Three_.

"Check the bedroom windows-" _Number Four, the Southern Gentleman_.

Number Two began to argue, "He sliced through-"

"I mean the other rooms; he might have doubled back in. Danny, y'all go back that way and run 'round the house. I'll go this way; we'll meet in the front. Caleb, Jake, go through the inside of house again. We got screwed on this deal and I want to know by who," Apparently the Southern Gentleman was in charge and he sounded pissed.

_Damn, I know that voice_, Liz thought.

Danny, Caleb and Jake agreed and Liz could hear the footsteps as the men began to split up.

_**1:26am PST**_

"She's not answering." Tony looked at his phone, a worried expression on his face.

"What?" The agent driving asked.

"I was calling Liz to tell her we were still ten out, she won't answer."

"That's not normal, Liz always answers."

"Unless she can't," The agent behind Tony said. "Maybe there was someone at the house and she's sitting on him."

The driver shook his head again, "She would have called us, or Dessler, and Dessler would have called-"

"I don't care," Tony cut in, a sinking feeling in his stomach, "drive faster."

_**1:27am PST**_

Liz held her position, praying that the Southern Gentleman left the backyard before Danny reached her. Danny was moving slowly, but Liz was finally able to see him as he turned the corner from the backyard. _Christ he's a kid!_ He couldn't be more than eighteen, twenty tops, his build was muscular, but not too bulky. He held his gun awkwardly, like an unfamiliar tool. _Who the hell are these guys?_ Shifting her position, she waited until he was where she wanted him. Just as he began to lean over the cans, she sprang up, swinging her pistol in an arc that connected with his nose, breaking it.

With a spray of blood, the kid went down in a heap. Moving as silently as she could, Liz dragged his body back into her hiding place. Stepping back, she took a quick look. There was a little blood on the ground, but she couldn't readily see the kid. It would have to be good enough.

Liz quickly ran into the backyard and up to the side of the porch. She nervously peered in through the sliding door. _Damn idiots have all the lights on! Good for me, bad for them._ Liz could see the entire kitchen and living areas, one of the men was leaning on the kitchen island his gun on the counter in front of him. He was turned away from the porch; the other was… sitting on the couch?

Suppressing the inconvenient urge to laugh, Liz took a chance. Picking up a stone and taking few steps back, she threw it at one of the empty bedroom's windows with a sharp crack and ducked back down. Predictably, both men snapped to attention, giving each other "Did you hear that?" looks. Motioning to his partner, the man in the kitchen picked up his gun. Liz watched as Couch Man took off for the back of the house as Kitchen Man moved slowly into the hallway, taking his time.

Moving onto the porch, Liz slowly pushed open the patio door straining her ears to hear if the men inside reacted to the soft sound. Hearing nothing but the sounds of footfalls and doors being opened in the back, Liz entered the house, swiftly moving to a position by the wall that separated the hallway and the kitchen.

"I don't see anyone, Jake, the room's empty." _Back bedroom. Caleb._

"Well look again and try the master again, too, I'm gonna go out back." _Jake. Hallway._

"Danny and the Sarge are going over it." _Gentleman's "the Sarge," huh? OK…_

"Well I'm going over it again, besides this guy probably beat out of here and is halfway 'cross town by now." Liz listened to the heavy footsteps as Jake neared the hall entrance. As he turned the corner and took another step, Liz quickly moved behind Jake and clocked him with the butt of her gun.

She broke the larger man's fall as best she could, and was about the drag him out of sight when the familiar southern voice drawled, "Well, Lizzie Barrett, or whatever your name is, what _are_ you doing here?"

Liz's head shot up and for the first time she saw the face of the man Jake had called "Sarge." The familiar southern voice belonged to a stocky, blonde, military groomed man that Liz knew only too well. Her heart sank as she looked at the gun he had drawn on her, but she kept her tone neutral. "Thomas Leighton, when did you get back in town?"

"About a year to the day that you killed my bother, bitch, now drop your gun. Now."

Liz slowly put her gun on the ground and stood with her hands in front of her. "How do you know it was me, Tom?" She asked, trying to stall. She heard footsteps behind her and Caleb came into the room.

"What the..? Sarge, what's going on?"

"Ask later, get her gun." Caleb complied, and Leighton moved closer to Liz, still holding the gun steady.

"I asked you a question, Tom. How do you know it was me? There were a lot of agents there that night."

Thomas leaned in further, "If you're here, why do you need to ask?"

Liz barely had time to register the remark when Thomas swung his arm and everything went dark.


	12. Chapter 9

_E/N: Sorry to leave Liz and Tony out there like that for so long! R&R, and thanks for the feedback so far!**  
**_

* * *

_**1:42am PST**_

Tony looked around the living room in frustration as the rest of the agents and forensic specialists moved around him. This couldn't be happening. Even an agent with Elizabeth Genova's reputation couldn't just disappear into thin air. Running a hand over his head, he pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial.

"Dessler."

"Michelle, its Tony, is Mason there yet?"

"He just went up to the office, did Liz find something?"

"Not exactly, listen are there any security cameras around here we can tap into, or was there sat coverage on this area tonight?"

"I don't know, Tony, what-"

"Check on that and transfer me to George will ya?"

"Tony?"

"Just do it Dessler."

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line and Tony winced. "Yessir," Michelle's tone was icy. "I'll patch you right through."

"Michelle-" Tony began, but it was too late. The line went silent as he was transferred.

Tony cursed himself; he shouldn't have been so sharp with Michelle. She had been logging at least as many hours as he was, and she was one of the few people that wasn't judging him. Making a mental note to apologize later, Tony began to pace the room, scanning the floor, looking for something, anything that would give him a clue as to what had happened to Agent Genova.

The line clicked on and George Mason's voice drawled, "What's going on there, Almeida? Liz leave a body count or something?"

"She's not here, George."

"What do you mean, she took off? That's just perfect."

"I don't know what happened, we just got here a minute ago and the house was open and there were lights on."

"Did you try calling her?"

Tony rolled his eyes, "Yes, George, I was trying to call her from the van before we even got here." Tony continued his pacing, now moving toward the kitchen area.

"Well it's not exactly unheard of for Genova to just take off and not call in. There's a reason she was shipped out of here, Tony, she's more of a loose cannon that Bauer was. She probably found something and is chasing it down. Is there any sign of a fight?"

"Not that we've found, but we only just started-" Tony stopped and crouched over. There were several dark spots and a smear on the carpet by the hallway. Ignoring George's questions on the other end of the phone, Tony reached a finger out to one of the spots and touched it lightly. It was still damp. Pulling his finger back he looked at it closely.

"Tony, are you listening to me?"

"No." Tony ignored George's cursing and called out to a nearby agent, "Baker?"

George's voice over the phone became more agitated, "Almeida, what the hell is going on there?"

Agent Baker came over to where Tony was kneeling, "Yeah?"

"Spread everyone out, get some agents looking around outside, and call L.A.P.D. to help you start knocking on doors, see if anyone heard or saw anything odd in the last hour."

Looking at Tony warily, Baker pulled out his radio and began calling in the orders as George called out again, "Almeida! What's going on there?"

"Sorry, I wanted to get some more feet on the ground. We need to start a wide pattern search of the area."

"Why? What did you find?"

Tony looked down at the liquid on his finger. "I found blood, George. And it's still fresh."

* * *

_**2:31am PST**_

Liz slowly clawed her way back to consciousness. Her awareness returned slowly as she tried to figure out her current situation. She was sitting up, and she felt like she was tied to a chair. Trying to move her arms was futile, she quickly discovered. They were bound behind her so tightly that she had lost feeling in both her hands. She attempted to move her legs only to realize that they too, were bound.

And she could hear voices nearby.

Liz stopped trying to move and began to focus on cataloguing her injuries. She couldn't see out her left eye very well, it was swollen mostly shut. Her jaw ached, and she had a vague memory of someone hitting her on the back of the head while she was in what she assumed was the van she had seen. There were more bruises beyond her head. It felt like someone had taken a few shots to her ribs and her abdomen while she was out cold. Luckily nothing felt broken, but she didn't want to try running yet.

Keeping as still as she could, Liz tried to look around. She seemed to be centered in a small room. The walls in front and to the right were dark concrete, and there were a number of pipes on the ceiling and running up and down the wall in front of her. She couldn't see behind her, but there was a soft light coming from that direction. It looked like moonlight to her, possibly from a window. Liz noted it and began to turn her head in the other direction. There was a wall of some sort to her left, unfinished drywall with a simple wooden door in the middle. There was no lock.

And that's where the voices were coming from. Liz strained to listen, and waited.

* * *

_**2:36am PST**_

Tony re-entered the house through the front door after checking up with the LAPD teams that had been sent over. They were just beginning their survey, but Tony wasn't going to hold his breath. The next door neighbors had said they heard what sounded like a car or van pulling away fast, but it was late and it didn't seem likely that anyone in the neighborhood had heard or seen anything more than that.

Other than the blood on the carpet and a bloody hand print (not belonging to Liz), behind some garbage cans, there was precious little to go on. The techs had scanned the handprint back to C.T.U. and they were checking their databases for a match. They told Tony the search could take hours and still yield no results. Michelle was checking some convenience store and ATM cameras in the area, hoping to find anything that would be useful. But the last time Tony had talked to her, she hadn't been optimistic about her chances. There were at least three different routes that led out of the subdivision without passing any cameras.

They had found Liz's cell phone in the yard behind the house.

A few of the older agents, those that had worked with Liz before she left C.T.U., were becoming increasingly vocal about the chances of Liz just popping up on her own. No kidnapping, no foul play, just Liz having gone off on her own to follow a lead and not bothering to call it in. Tony was becoming increasingly convinced that her reputation was come by honestly, and not just a figment of Chapelle's and Mason's frustrations. He was wondering exactly what he had signed on for when he agreed to work with her.

Pausing for a moment in the doorway to get his bearings, Tony continued inside, looking for Agent Baker. Lights were now on in every room and C.T.U. forensics teams were going over everything with a fine-toothed comb. Tony dodged a tech coming out from the hall, and paused again to look around, ignoring the glances he was getting from the other field agents on site.

Tony finally saw the Asian agent he was looking for standing on the back porch; he was holding in his hand what appeared to be a copy of the bloody hand-print. He was talking on his phone, and his expression was guarded.

Rapping his knuckles on the glass to get Baker's attention, Tony slid the porch door open as Baker turned to look at him. Tony nodded to the phone and asked softly, "Mason?"

Baker shook his head "no," and continued speaking as if Tony wasn't there, "No, I don't know if it's anything you should be concerned with, we're not even a hundred percent sure she's been taken." Tony rolled his eyes. This was getting out of hand.

Baker continued, "You know Lizzie, Joe. She probably just took off. But at this point I'm not leaving anything to chance. So I'm sending out a second team to the house as a precaution."

There was a pause as Tony continued to watch Baker listen to the other end of the line. Baker's eyes widened, and he turned away from Tony, shaking his head vehemently. "No, don't tell Jack what happened if he wakes up! Christ, Davies, he doesn't need this now, especially after this afternoon. If he asks about the extra team, just tell him we're just covering our bases."

There was another pause. "Well, if he calls your bluff, tell him to call Almeida and we'll let him deal with it."

Tony clenched his jaw, feeling anger beginning to well up inside him. A quick glance to his left showed a few agents on the lawn, watching the porch with amused expressions. Tony resisted the urge to tap Baker on the shoulder to hurry the conversation along, and instead he stared down the agents on the lawn until they looked away and moved on with what they had been doing.

Baker was still talking as if Tony wasn't there, "Fine, Davies, tell him whatever you want so long as it has nothing to do with the words 'Liz,' 'Missing,' or 'Meyers' secret hide-out.' The last thing we need is Jack trying to help, and if he finds out what's happened that's exactly what he'll try to do. He doesn't need this, so let's keep it quiet, Ok? Guy's been through enough."

Baker finally nodded to the voice on the line and looked back at Tony, "Ok, listen, Almeida's here, check in with me in half an hour? Or sooner if you hear from Liz, right?"

Tony waited as Baker hung up and he arched an eyebrow at the field agent. "You're sending another team to the safe house?" he asked.

"Mason asked me personally to head the team to make sure Jack and his daughter were safe. With what might have happened here, I don't want to leave anything to chance. Is there a problem… Sir?" he added, almost as an afterthought.

Tony noted the pause and squared his shoulders. Deciding to head this off before it went any further, Tony began, "No, Agent Baker, I think sending an extra team to the safe house is a good idea, and had you asked, I would have had no problem authorizing it."

"Then what-"

"You didn't ask, Agent Baker. While I'm glad you have the Bauers' best interests at heart, I'm still second in command for this office, and the lead agent on-site for this operation, and that request should have gone through me. Now I know everyone's been playing it fast and loose lately, but can we at least pretend there's still a command structure in place?"

Baker looked taken aback and began to speak again, but Tony cut him off, the frustration of the last few days beginning to boil over. "Look, Baker, I have a pretty good idea what the rest of the field agents think of me right now, but I'm not the bad guy here, so stop shutting me out."

Anger flared in Agent Baker's eyes, but Tony continued, "I'm not going to leave Bauer out to dry because I don't like him personally, and I'm not going to cover-up for Nina's friends because I used to like her. I'm going to do my job. I'm going to find a missing agent, whether she's been taken or she's just out on a Sunday stroll. And I am sick of the attitude I'm getting from everyone."

Tony dropped his voice and took a step toward Baker, "We need to start trusting each other again, if we can't do that… Well, then we can put a hundred agents around Bauer and a thousand more out looking for Genova, and they'll still both end up dead because we're all to busy watching each other to look out for them. You get me, Tom?"

The other agent nodded, his eyes wide in shock. Tony motioned to the print in Baker's hand, "Call in and see if they've made any progress on that, then see if Dessler's gotten anything off the videos yet." Baker began walk away and dial his phone, but paused as Tony added, "And see if Chapelle's been able to find any more names off those financial records he was working on. If Liz really did stumble over something she's chasing on her own, we need to figure out what it was, and those records are our only lead right now."

Baker nodded and placed his call. Tony watched him walk away and wondered how many more times he was going to have to have that conversation with someone who used to trust him. It was going to get old really fast.

Tony turned to go back and see if anything new had been discovered by the teams inside. As he placed his hand on the sliding door he wondered, not for the first time, exactly what he had stumbled into with Agent Elizabeth Genova.

* * *

_**2:53am PST**_

Liz's mind had been racing since she came to, trying to put together all the bits of information she remembered about Thomas Leighton with everything she knew about Nina. The idea of a connection between Leighton and the Drazens was ludicrous, and that meant that Nina had contacts that went beyond whatever her ties were to the Serbian overlord. Liz thought she might have an idea of what was happening, and the implications were horrific, not to mention potentially devastating to national security.

Of course all of that would be moot if she couldn't get out of her current predicament. She knew C.T.U. would be looking for her by now, she could only hope they would find her in time. Until then, she was on her own.

Liz continued to look around as best she could, trying to see the window behind her, hoping it might be an avenue of escape. She also strained her ears to hear what was happening in the next room. Liz couldn't make out much of the conversation, but she had been able to make out a few of the speakers. One was definitely Leighton, and he sounded angry. The others were harder, but she was pretty sure one was Jake, and he was sounding more and more worried. The other voices were calm, and seemed to be trying to keep Leighton and Jake in line. Finally, Leighton shouted something and the conversation ended.

The door next to Liz opened, and she snuck a look inside. It appeared to be a small office; there were posters on the walls, and a small desk with a computer. But what caught her eye were the two men going up the stairwell.

Liz was so focused on the potential exit she almost missed Jake entering her ad-hoc prison cell, leaving the door open.

"Well, look who's up, Sarge." Jake sang. "Maybe now we can get some of those answers our friends are so interested in?"

Leighton entered the room next with a folding chair. He closed the door behind him and walked to the center of the room. He set the chair in front Liz with a bang that echoed through her battered skull. Jake turned on an overhead light and Liz had to fight the urge to flinch as the bright light pierced her eyes. Instead, she blinked as best she could to clear the sudden tears and looked Leighton in the eye as he sat in the chair he had placed. She held his gaze and was chilled at the sudden smile that came over his face.

"Ha!" He laughed, "I'd forgotten how gutsy you were, Sunshine. I remember that cop you faced down during that warrant search down at Rusty's garage. Didn't even blink, just like now, you just stared him down and dared him to arrest you." Leighton turned to face Jake, his casual demeanor barely concealing the venom under his words. "Lizzie here used to help us with coordinating transportation and locating safe storage for our… equipment, so to speak. We were served with warrants three times, but thanks to Lizzie here, we managed to keep one step ahead and they never found a thing." Leighton turned back to Liz, still smiling "Of course, hindsight 'n' all, I guess you had the inside track, didn't you?"

Liz didn't say a word, and she continued to focus on Leighton as Jake moved from the periphery to stand directly behind her. Leighton continued to speak, holding her gaze with his own, icy stare. "You were a good friend to the cause, Lizzie. My brother thought so highly of you, I even think he was a little in love with you. But that's your job, ain't it, Sunshine?" Leighton leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped in front of him, "You get people to trust you, tell you their secrets, and then- BANG!"

Before Liz had a chance to brace herself, Leighton struck out with a fist and connected with her already injured left eye. Stars exploded in her vision as her head whipped back and the force of the impact threatened to tip her chair over backwards. She felt Jake's hands on her shoulders, steadying the chair. An involuntary gasp escaped Liz's throat, and she drew a ragged breath trying to get a handle on the fresh pain.

Leighton kept talking, now standing over Liz and whispering in her ear. "You killed my brother, you made him trust you, and when you were done with him, you killed him."

He returned to the chair and leaned back into it, settling himself. He motioned to Jake who went back into the other room, leaving the door open. Liz spared another glance in that direction before returning her gaze to the figure seated in front of her.

Fresh blood trickled down the side of Liz's face, and she ignored it.

He continued to smile as he spoke, "Now if it were up to me, I'd just kill you now and have Jake dump the body somewhere your friends would find it. As a lesson to those who would betray the cause, those traitors who wouldn't know who they should be protecting this country from if I gave them a list. Heck, I'd consider it a patriotic duty."

Liz strained her ears, trying to hear what Jake was doing in the next room. Stalling for time and trying to hold her voice steady, Liz spoke softly, "But it's not up to you, is it, Tommy? Your friends upstairs are in charge of this one, aren't they?"

Leighton cocked his head to the side, "You'd think that, wouldn't you? Naw, they're not in charge, they're just friends from out-of-town, and we owe them a favor. I'm still going to kill you, but I'm going to ask you some questions for them first."

Liz remained silent at that, and Leighton chuckled, "You're going to die, Elizabeth, if that is your name. And the only question is how much pain you'll be in before I send you to your final judgment."

Jake returned, this time closing the door behind him. He crossed to Leighton's chair and set down a rusted red toolkit at his feet. He leaned over Leighton and said softly, almost out of Liz's hearing, "We need to hurry; Pietro wants something before he goes back to D.C."

The name triggered something in Liz's memory, but she couldn't place it. _I need to stall, I need more time._ Liz's mind raced for something, anything she could say to draw this out.

Leighton whipped his head around to look at Jake and he hissed, "I don't care what Pietro wants. We're doing this my way, and he can wait."

"You're the boss, Sarge, I just thought-"

"Well forget it!" Leighton snapped. "I'm going to enjoy this. Bitch tied my brother to a chair and shot him in the chest…"

_Bingo!_ Liz silently exulted.

"…and I won't be rushed!"

Liz let out a hoarse laugh and both men looked at her sharply. "What's so funny, Sunshine?"

Fighting the pain, Liz smiled. "You bought that story, too, huh? Man, even my boss thought that story was b.s., and he _wanted_ to believe it. I mean, he really wanted to believe it, he was looking for any excuse to hang me out to dry."

Liz kept talking as Leighton and Jake exchanged confused glances, "But I guess she thought _you_ were gullible enough, if she told you the same story."

"Man, don't listen to this, Sarge, she's just blowin' smoke."

Jake took a step toward Liz with balled fists and she let herself flinch, shutting her mouth and looking at Jake with genuine fear. She was on a tightrope, and she knew it. If Leighton let Jake shut her up, she didn't have a chance. But if he protected her; all she had to do was string him along long enough to think of a way to get herself out of this or until C.T.U. found her.

Liz hung her head in defeat, preparing for a blow, but it didn't come. She looked up, hesitantly, to see Leighton reaching out his arm to restrain Jake. Liz held her breath, allowing Leighton to wrestle with himself a little longer. Finally he leaned forward.

"You're telling me Yelena lied about what happened to Sam?"

Yelena, Nina. Nina, Yelena. Liz spared a moment to wonder how many other people knew that pseudonym, as she continued to size up Leighton's interest in her story.

Choosing her words carefully, Liz continued, "If she told you the same story she told my boss, then, yeah. She lied. I didn't kill your brother, Tommy…"

Leighton's eyes narrowed and he leaned forward.

"… I just pulled the trigger."

Liz heard the subtle, startled intake of breath and she saw the thinly-veiled shock on Leighton's face and she wanted to cry out loud.

_I got him!_

****

* * *

**_3:00am PST_**

"Tony!"

Agent Baker's shout from the lawn pulled Tony out of the conversation he was having with the tech that had gone over Agent Genova's abandoned car. He turned as Baker came running up.

"What's going on?"

"Dessler just called, they got a hit on the bloody print, and apparently it looks like a solid lead. Mason wants you back A.S.A.P."

For the first time since he arrived at the empty house, Tony felt a sense of relief. He looked at Baker's face and was amused to see the same feeling reflected there.

"Great, keep everyone working here, Baker. I don't want to overlook something we might need. I'm heading back to the office; call me if you find anything."

Tony turned to leave, but Baker stopped him. "We can leave Cooper in charge, can't we?" Tony looked Baker in the eye, questioning. Baker hesitated, "I'd like to come along, sir. You might need someone you can trust at your back."

Tony paused, and finally nodded. He had to start somewhere. "Fill in Cooper and meet me at the car, we need to move fast."

Tony watched Baker run off, and he excused himself from the agent he had been talking to. Walking to the dark S.U.V., he cautioned himself against getting his hopes up. The print could be a dead lead, and even if it really were a live one, Liz had been missing almost two hours and plenty could have happened in that time.

Still he couldn't help himself.

_We got her! _


End file.
